


Blast from the Past (1)

by louisethatcher5



Series: Blast from the Past [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:08:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 50,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29196624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisethatcher5/pseuds/louisethatcher5
Summary: First book from the BftP series.It all starts off with a lie, a returning villain and a secret. Then everything starts to go haywire. A story full of drama, love and sadness.Nadakhan returned and is seeking revenge on Jay. Nya lied to Jay, putting their relationship in jeopardy, not to mention a secret she had been keeping from him. Then Jay has to find out the truth about his parentage at the same time as being hunted down by his worst nightmare. If Nadakhan was to capture him, a tragic event was sure to happen...(Written in 2018)
Relationships: Nya/Jay Walker
Series: Blast from the Past [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157759
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	1. Just a cold

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This series talks about mental health, death, family issues, and other upsetting topics. This story is for mature audiences only (mid-teens+).

**Jay's POV**

I woke up, startled. I checked the alarm clock on the other side of my shared bedroom. It read 3:20 am. Great. Another nightmare.

I've been having multiple nightmares lately about what happened with Nadakhan. It was only a couple of days ago and none of the other ninjas knows about it, except for Nya of course. I don't want to talk to her about my nightmares because I don't want her to worry. Things started looking up for me since Nya chose me. Until now.

I lied back down on my mattress, covered myself with the sheets and sighed. It would be a while until the others awoke and I don't think I want to go back to sleep. I'm on the top bunk, Cole bellow. On the other bed, Kai was at the top and Zane was on the bottom. Lloyd has his bed next to the alarm clock. Both Nya and Sensei have their own bedrooms for privacy reasons which makes so much sense as Nya shouldn't be forced to share a room with us sticky boys.

I sighed again and sat back up. I can't seem to get comfy. I yawned quietly and hopped out of bed. I tiptoed to the door and opened it slowly, trying not to make a sound. I stepped out into the main corridor and closed the door behind me, making no noise. I hope that no one else is awake.

It was pitch black but I still managed to find my way to the kitchen. The light was on. I thought it would be Sensei so I stopped by the door and peeked around. The person turned to see me and smiled.

"Oh, it's only you." I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted Nya.

I walked in, closing the door behind me. She looked tired, bags under her eyes.

"You look tired," I told her.

"I could say the same to you. What are you doing up so early?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"Thirsty." I lied as I opened the refrigerator. She coughed, quite roughly, and then sneezed. I took out some orange juice and closed the door. I placed the carton on the table and turned to my girlfriend.

"You okay? You sound ill or something." I asked, concerned.

I know Nya is tough but she doesn't sound very well. I hope that it's nothing serious.

"Nah, probably just a cold or something." She replied.

"Have you taken any medicine?" I wondered.

Why am I asking so many questions?! STOP IT JAY!

"I don't need to if it's a cold." She frowned.

"Nya, you need to take something. It might not even be a cold. It could be worse." I told her.

"I'm fine, Jay, don't worry." She gave me a friendly smile of reassurance.

I took her hand and she sneezed again.

"You should see a doctor," I suggested.

"Why?" She asked.

"It could be something bad. You really want to risk it?" I wondered. She shook her head and took the phone. She dialled the doctors.

"Hello?" The doctor on the other side answered.

"Hi. Um, I'd like to book an appointment for later on today." She replied.

"Uh, sure. Can I have your name and age please?" He asked.

"Nya Smith and I'm 16." She told him.

"Okay...is 2:30 pm a good time?" He wondered.

Nya looked at me as if to ask, 'Is that okay?' I nodded.

"Yep. That's okay." She replied.

"Okay, see you then." The doctor hung up.

"I can come if you like," I suggested. She nodded and went back to bed. I'm glad that the whole nightmare or why I was awake subject didn't come up. I don't want Nya worrying about me on top of being ill. It ain't worth it.

I decided to go back to bed for about half an hour later. I didn't have another nightmare but it took me a while to fall asleep again. I was woken up by the bridge alarm at 2:15 pm. I had slept through most of the day and nobody had woken me up?! Fantastic. Nya's appointment is in 15 minutes too!!

We all ran to the bridge to see what the emergency was. Everyone was already there, including Nya.

"Oh, you're awake." Cole spotted me.

"Yeah thanks for waking me up," I replied, sarcastically. Nya smiled at me as if to say, 'wakey wakey sleepy head'.

Sensei entered the bridge.

"It looks like a pirate is roaming the city of Stiix." He told us.

"What does anyone want with Stiix?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, what's with Stiix being targeted lately. Clouse was spotted there too." Kai added.

"Who knows but I'm just excited to get back into action after we got caught up in something last time." Cole glared at Nya and I in a joking way.

"Kai, Jay, Lloyd, Zane and Cole will go," Sensei told us.

Hold up...NO!!!

"Why isn't Nya going?" Kai asked.

"She has a doctors appointment," Sensei replied.

"DID JAY MAKE YOU PREGNANT?!" He glared at me.

"Ew, no!" She screeched. "It's nothing serious. Just a check-up."

"Because...YOU ARE PREGNANT!!!!" Kai screamed.

"NO!" Nya yelled back.

"Sensei, I can't go to Stiix. I said I'd go with Nya to the doctors." I told Sensei.

"Since when did she invite you?!" Cole complained.

"This morning," I replied.

"You weren't awake this morning," Zane added.

Oopsie...wasn't supposed to let them know that.

"Did I say this morning? I meant last night." I laughed and scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

"Jay, you don't have to go, you know. I'll be okay going by myself." Nya turned to me.

"But I promised you—" I was cut off. She took a hold on my hand, looked me in the eyes and gave me a warm smile. Her eyes were so pretty. A hazel brown just like how I had first looked into them. Beautiful.

"Go and save Ninjago."

I nodded and ran to my room. I opened up my wardrobe and took my blue jacket, white shirt, blue jeans off their hangers and threw them on, followed by my blue lightning bolt trainers. I sprinted back to the bridge and we set off on our dragons. Nya waved goodbye as we flew off into the distance.


	2. Pirates

**Nya's POV**

I arrived at the doctors and sat in the waiting room.

I wonder what the guys are doing right now. Probably fighting that pesky pirate! I bet all my money on it being Captain Soto. I mean, who else could it be?

A nurse opened the door opposite me and stuck her head out.

"Nya Smith?" She asked. I stood up and smiled at her.

"Ah, come on in." She smiled back and led me into the room.

I sat down on a blue chair, which reminded me of Jay, and then waited for the doctor to grab a notebook and pen.

"So what have you been experiencing? Any pains?" She asked.

"I've had a few stomach aches, I've been sneezing and coughing quite a lot," I explained. She noted it down and looked back up at me.

"This evidence shows that you have a severe allergy. We are going to have to run some blood tests to find out what exactly you are allergic to if that's okay." She suggested.

"Yeah sure," I replied.

I would do anything to find out what my allergy is. Then I can stay away from whatever it is making me ill.

**Jay's POV**

I wonder if Nya is okay. She hasn't texted me or anything yet. I'm sure she's just waiting for us to get back so she can tell me that everything is okay and it's just a cold or something.

Anyways, we arrived at Stiix. It was just the same old rubbish going on there. We split off and started searching for the so-called pirate. Perhaps its Captain Soto? We'll only know until we find them.

I heard a loud crash.

Woah!! That was loud!! It made me jump!

I decided to run towards where the crash had happened and guess what...

I bumped into Cole, Kai and Zane. Our faces fell as we spotted each other.

"Guys? Did you hear that crash?" Kai asked.

"It was so loud!!!!" I exclaimed.

"It seems that a fisherman has only dropped a plate of fish." Zane pointed out.

"Where's Lloyd?" Cole wondered. That was the moment when I heard footsteps running up behind me.

"There he is!!!" Kai yelled, pointing behind me. I turned to see the green ninja legging it at us, looking startled.

He stopped in front of me, out of breath and holding his phone.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Did you find the pirate?" Cole added.

He managed to catch his breath and show us a video on his phone.

"Is that the pirate?" Zane wondered. Lloyd nodded.

I looked at the video and what did I see?

A genie pirate thingy appeared. Hold up...that's not just any genie pirate thingy! That's Nadakhan genie pirate thingy!! *coughs* I mean Djin.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, Lloyd. Are you sure that you saw this pirate today?" I took a step back.

"With my own two eyes." He replied.

"Why didn't you fight him?!" Kai shouted.

"He disappeared before I could even get to him." Lloyd groaned.

No...no...no...not Nadakhan. He can't be back! I can't go through everything I had to go through last time again. It's painful thinking about it. And the nightmares... My nightmares are coming true... OMG, I NEED TO PROTECT NYA!!!!!! Calm down, Jay. It will be okay... THAT'S A LIE!!! HE 'S BACK FOR ME AFTER HOW I GOT RID OF HIM THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!!! I AM SO DEAD!!!!

"We should head back to the bounty and look further into this. Maybe Sensei and Nya could help too." Zane suggested.

**Nya's POV**

The doctor went to fetch the blood test results a few minutes ago. Where is she?

Hold up, I think she's coming back now.

The doctor entered the room and smiled at me. She was holding a piece of printed off paper in her left hand. She sat back down in the chair opposite me and went over the test results.

"So, we have the results here." She told me. "You are an elemental master, aren't you?"

"Um, yes," I responded.

"And do you have any close friends or family with elemental powers too?" She asked.

"Yes. My teammates, my brother and my boyfriend." I replied.

"May I ask what powers they have, including you?" She wondered.

"Sure. My power is water. My teammate's powers are Earth, Ice and Energy. My brother's power is Fire and my boyfriend's power is Lightning." I explained.

What has any of this got to do with an allergy?!

"Ah, I see..." She frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"It seems you are allergic to one of these elemental powers, which means you have to stay away from that person with that power." She replied.

"Who?!" I exclaimed.

So I am allergic to one of my friends? I have never heard of this happening before...

"Lightning." She answered.

Lightning...Jay?!

"I have to stay away from my boyfriend?!" I shot up out of my chair. "I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"There is some medicine you can take which can take away the allergy but it might take a significant amount of time to do so." She explained.

I am NOT staying away from Jay. I love Jay with all my heart! We only recently got back together too! This is so unfair!!!

"Um okay. I'll swing by tomorrow and pick it up." I sighed.

"Thank you for coming to see me today. If you don't follow my advice, you could potentially end up making your allergy worse and could lead to possible death or diseases." She added.

Death?! What?!

Oh, no...how am I going to tell the others?! And more importantly...

How am I going to tell Jay?!


	3. Promises I can't keep

**Nya's POV**

I arrived back at the Bounty to find that the others had gotten back before me.

Jay was sat on the sofa, Kai at the kitchen table, Zane was making food, Cole and Lloyd were playing cards.

"Hey guys, I'm back." I waved at them. Jay looked up at me.

"We need to talk." He sat up.

"Okay, I need to speak to Kai quickly first," I told him.

"It's urgent." He argued.

"So is mine." I looked at Kai. He got up out of his chair and lead me to his room.

"Are you pregnant?" He asked.

_Am I pregnant?! Where did this come from?!_

"No," I told him. "You know I was at the doctor's, right?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with you?" Kai asked.

"I have an allergy and I don't know what to do." I sighed.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Something like peanuts maybe. What is it?" He wondered.

"The element Lightning." I stared at my feet.

"Uh...what? Did you just say lightning?" He questioned. I nodded my head.

"That means you have to stay away from Jay, right?" He asked. I nodded again.

"You have to tell him!!" He exclaimed.

"And I will," I replied. "I promise."

"I am so sorry, Nya." I felt something warm wrap around my shoulders. The next thing I knew, my brother was hugging me, something that barely ever happened.

We walked back out to the living room, Kai sat back down in his seat as Jay sat up.

"Can we talk now?" He asked. I nodded as he walked down to his room and held the door open for me. I looked over at Kai, who gave me a look as if to say, 'You do it or I will.'

I followed Jay into his room and stood in the centre. He started to pace and nibbling on his fingernails.

"What's up?" I asked.

He stopped in front of me, worried.

"Nadakhan. He's back."

My eyes widened.

_You have got to be kidding me?!_

"You're lying," I told him but he shook his head.

"That pirate at Stiix is Nadakhan. He's back. I can't go through what I had to go through before. I just can't." He started to panic.

_Oh no... Jay is not okay. I know that I promised Kai I would tell Jay but I can't right now. He needs me there for him and he is more important than me right now._

"Hey, listen to me, everything will be okay," I told him.

"I don't know, Nya. This is Nadakhan we are talking about. You know what he is capable of." He argued.

"I know but we know how to take him down now. And we don't even know if he remembers us. He might not remember anything that happened." I told him.

"But what if he does?" He wondered.

"Then we take him down," I reassured him.

"I don't know about that, Nya. Nadakhan can do anything. He could try and kill you again. He might even try and kill me for killing him. I don't want to die." He started panicking again. I grabbed a hold of his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"It'll be okay. I promise." I told him.

_Great. Now that's two promises I can't keep._

_Uh oh... I feel it coming... a sneeze... come on, Nya. Fight the allergy. Jay needs me. I can't give up on him now._

"I hope you're right, Nya. I do." He sighed.

At that moment, Kai burst in.

"DID YOU TELL HIM?!" He screamed.

"Tell me what?" Jay asked, confused.

"Kai?!" I yelled.

He covered his mouth and slowly crept away.

"What are you supposed to tell me?" He frowned at me.

"Nothing... just that my doctor's appointment went... great... just hay-fever..." I lied.

"Oh good. At least it isn't anything bad. I would hate it if you got ill and died." Jay breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah... Me too..." I stared at my feet.

_I can't tell Jay, not yet. My promise to Kai is going to have to wait until I finish with my promise to Jay. Jay is more important right now, Kai has to understand that._

**Kai's POV**

I walked back into the living room, everyone staring at me.

"What is Nya supposed to tell Jay?" Lloyd asked.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone." I pleaded.

"Go on," Zane told me.

"Nya has an allergy. She's allergic to Jay's elemental power, meaning she has to stay away from him for a set amount of time." I explained.

"She has to stay away from Jay?!" Cole exclaimed.

"Shush! She can't know that I told you. Or anyone. She wants to tell Jay herself. Just don't mention it unless she does." I ordered.

_My sister means so much to me but she knows what I'm like with secrets. I can't go very long without telling someone. She's gotta learn that._


	4. Lies that hurt

**Nya's POV**

I woke up the next morning, stretched and guess what.

I sneezed.

This allergy is getting on my nerves. If Kai finds out that I didn't tell Jay, he's going to kill me. Not literally. But he will kill me. I just have to make sure that Jay doesn't find out from anyone else. Meaning, I have to speak to Kai. Great.

I crept down the corridor, knowing that Kai was awake. The light in the living room was on. I pushed open the door and peeked my head around.

Uh oh. It's Cole.

"Hey, Nya." He greeted me.

I was going to sneak back to bed but I guess its too late now...

I sat down next to him on the sofa.

"Hey." I sighed.

"I'm sorry." He gave me a smile of reassurance.

"For what?" I asked, frowning.

_Cole doesn't apologise for no reason..._

"That you have to stay away from Jay." He replied.

_What?! How does he know?!??_

"Excuse me, what?" My eyed widened.

He quickly covered his mouth, realising what he had just said.

"Oops. Wasn't supposed to mention that..." He sighed.

"Who told you?" I asked.

"Kai." He responded. "But we weren't supposed to mention it."

"Who else knows?!" I exclaimed.

"Zane and Lloyd." He told me.

"So Jay doesn't know?" I wondered.

"Kai told us that you told him." He frowned.

"Yeah, um, I didn't tell him yesterday..." I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

"What, why?!" He asked.

"I couldn't! He was upset! I had to be there for him!!!" I blurted out.

"He was upset? Why?" He asked me.

_Oh great... why does anyone trust me with secrets?_

"Can't tell you." I stared at my feet.

"I'm his best friend. I deserve to know." He ordered.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "Remember when Clouse was at Stiix?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he released a djin named Nadakhan and he came after all of us after his realm was destroyed. He took us out one by one by making us make our three wishes. By our third wish, we wished it all away, trapping us in The Sword of Souls. Jay was the only one who didn't make his third wish. Jay and I ended up being the only ones left. Jay went through so much with being beaten up and tortured by Nadakhan and his crew. Nadakhan captured me and married me so he could have infinite wishes. Jay was the only one left. He got together a whole new team and saved everyone trapped in the sword. He led the team to save me. A while ago before that, me, you, Jay and Lloyd managed to get Tiger Widow Venom, the only thing that could slow a Djin down. It would kill anyone like you or me, though. The Tiger Widow venom was shot at Nadakhan but it hit me too. I died in Jay's arms, leading Jay to make his last wish without realising it, taking us all back to where we were on the rooftop of the hospital." I explained.

"1) So that's why you picked Jay out of nowhere. 2) Wooooooaaaaahhh. 3) That's why Lloyd said he felt Deja Vu and 4) what has this got anything to do with the present?" Cole asked.

"That pirate you saw yesterday at Stiix?" I reminded him.

"What about him?" He frowned.

"That's Nadakhan. He's back. Even though, Jay's last wish was that I had taken his hand and he never found that teapot in the first place." I told him.

"The same guy that made Jay's life a living hell, that tortured him, that's him?!" Cole exclaimed.

I nodded.

"Oh man... I feel so bad now..." He sighed.

"He can't forgive himself for almost losing me," I added.

"I don't blame him." He frowned.

"But you can't tell anyone. I mean it. Jay can't find out that I told anyone, or especially about me and the allergy. He needs me right now. I need to be there for him." I explained.

"I know but, Nya, if you don't stay away from him, it could get worse. You don't want that, do you?" He asked.

"Of course not but I want Jay to be happier than me. I hate seeing him upset. He's always been there for me. Now it's my turn to be there for him. Jay had helped the team stay positive through everything. Now I will help him by staying positive. It'll be a whole lot harder now that Nadakhan is back but I know that I can do it." I reassured him.

Cole put a hand on my shoulder.

At that moment, the worst thing happened, Jay walked in. He stopped by the door, staring at Cole and I sat next to each other. We both looked at him.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"We're just talking," Cole told him.

Jay rolled his eyes and sat down at the dining table. He put his head in his hands and I could hear him crying a little.

Cole and I exchanged looks.

"Go speak to him." He whispered.

"Me? Why me?" I complained.

"He's your boyfriend. Plus, I thought you wanted to be there for him. He's suffering, Nya. I can't speak to him about it." Cole told me.

I got up and walked over to him. I sat down in the seat next to him. I removed his head from his hands, revealing him with tears falling down his cheeks.

"I couldn't sleep. I was scared he'd come." Jay whined.

My heart sank.

_I hate seeing him like this... It hurts._

I said nothing. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. He hugged me back. My top was soaked but I didn't care. Jay needed me.

"It's all gonna be okay. I promise." I reassured him.

_Why do I keep making promises that I know I can't keep?!_

Everything that happened with Nadakhan before is coming back to him. It's hitting him hard.

Not again...

I let out a loud sneeze.

"Are you sure it's nothing?" Jay asked, wiping away his tears. I nodded, guiltily.


	5. Lies are worse

"I'm sorry, no. Kai, I can't keep this secret. Not from Jay." Cole argued.

"You have to!" I yelled.

"I can't keep secrets from my best friend. He deserves to know!" He exclaimed.

Uh oh

"Cole you have to keep quiet for Jay and Nya's sake," Lloyd told him.

It was that moment when both Jay and Nya walked in. And as expected, Nya sneezed.

"Why are you guys shouting?" Jay asked.

Cole exchanged looks with us all.

_I may have just cost my sister's relationship..._

"Cole, are you okay?" Jay frowned.

Cole stared at me.

"I'm just fine." He got up and stormed off.

"What was that about?!" Nya wondered.

"I'll go see what's up with him." Jay ran after him.

_I am very much doomed... I just hope that he doesn't tell Jay._

**Cole's POV**

_Keeping this secret from Jay is not what I want. I hate keeping secrets from him._

There was a knock at my bedroom door.

"Come in," I called as I sat down on my bed. Jay opened the door and peeked his head around.

"You okay?" He asked. I slowly shook my head.

"You wanna talk about it?"

_Jay needs to know..._

I nodded my head.

He came in and closed the door behind me. He sat down beside me on the bed.

His eyes. They are so...blue.

"What is it? What's bothering you?" He asked again. I stared at my feet.

"Nya." I murmured.

"Did you say Nya?" He frowned.

"She's isn't okay. He doctors appointment didn't go as well as she told you." I added.

"S-she lied to me?" Jay shuttered. "Wait, how do you know?"

"She told Kai. Kai told Zane, Lloyd and I. I couldn't keep it a secret. You deserve to know." I replied.

"So I'm the last to know? It can't be that serious if she didn't tell me." He said.

I fell silent.

_I know telling him would be the wrong thing to do but I have to._

Jay looked at me, frowning.

"It's serious, isn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"How serious?" He asked again.

That was when the anger boiled up inside of me.

_The fact that Nya doesn't want Jay to know. The fact that Nya is risking her life to make other people happier when she knows they won't be. It angers me._

"An allergy to the elemental power Lightning and she has to stay away from anybody with that power otherwise it could make her worse and possibly lead to death!" I blurted out.

_Oops...too much information..._

"What?!" He jumped up.

"That was my reaction!! Jay, she's risking her life to make you happy!" I told him.

"She shouldn't be doing that. I need to speak with her right now." He started walking out of the room.

"Jay, wait!!" I chased after him.

He stormed into the living room where Kai, Lloyd, Zane and Nya were. I followed him.

"Talk. Now." He demanded to Nya.

She looked at Kai, knowing what he wanted to speak to her about.

She followed Jay to her room.

"What did you tell him?" Kai asked me.

"What he deserves to know," I replied.

"I told you not to tell him." He rolled his eyes.

I stormed off back to my room.

**Third-person POV**

Nya followed Jay into her room. He closed the door behind them.

"So...what you wanna talk about?" She asked awkwardly.

"You lied to me!" He exclaimed.

Nya stared at her feet.

"Cole shouldn't have told you." She mumbled.

"So when were you going to tell me?" He asked.

Once again, she stared at her feet. She wasn't going to tell Jay.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?" He frowned.

"I was going to but then I found out about Nadakhan and I couldn't!" She explained.

"Is there no other way to avoid it?" He asked.

"There is the medication I can take but it's extremely expensive." She responded.

Jay was speechless.

"But I am not going to stop spending time with you because of this." She added.

"No, Nya, you have to. It's dangerous! You could die! I am not letting you do that to yourself." He argued.

"But Jay--" She began.

"That doesn't mean you had lie to me either." He continued.

"But I want you to be happy." She yelled.

"And I want you to be safe." He sighed. "Maybe it's better if we didn't see each other anymore."

"Jay, you're being ridiculous!" She yelled.

"We're over." He walked out of the room but Nya chased after him.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I want to be alone." He shouted back as he left and headed towards the field outside.

Nya stopped in the middle of the living room, where everyone was. They all knew what was going on. Cole felt bad.

Nya ran back to her room and looked at the pictures she had of her and Jay. Tears began to form in her eyes.

_I didn't want us to end up like this..._


	6. Hard memories

The next day, Cole took Jay into the city to go shopping. They strolled down past Mother Doomsday's comic store.

"Hey, you wanna go check out the comics? They might have some Star Farer." Cole suggested.

"Nah. Not really in the mood for comics." Jay sighed.

"Why not?" Cole frowned.

"Nya and I used to have so much fun reading them." He stared at his feet.

"Ah, right." Cole rolled his eyes.

Every store Cole had suggested, Jay always had a memory of him and Nya.

"That is the second time I thought I could trust her!" Jay exclaimed.

"Well, the first time wasn't her fault..." Cole muttered.

"Yes, Cole. It was." He argued. "Wait...it was all Nya's fault. But I blamed you... I am so so sorry! I should have never jumped to conclusions like that."

"It wasn't my fault. It wasn't Nya's fault either. It was the Overlord's fault." Cole told him.

"No, it was Nya's. My mind is made up. Cole, I appreciate that you are trying to cheer me up but it's not working." Jay sighed.

"I am trying here, Jay. You gotta help me. I hate seeing you like this. Just please try and stay positive. For me." Cole pleaded.

"I'll try." He gave a faint smile.

Above hiding behind a building, stood the evil djinn himself, Nadakhan.

He remembered the events of what happened with Jay and Nya but he has no clue about what they looked like now. He couldn't remember any of the others either so he just took whatever he came across. He had managed to capture everyone he came across (basically everyone who looked the easiest to capture) including Kai, Lloyd and Zane. Nya wasn't in arms reach. She had been at the doctor's all afternoon. His next targets were Jay and Cole. He slowly moved in on them.

"Thanks." Cole smiled back.

Jay frowned. He sensed something.

"Shut up," Jay ordered.

"I'm sorry?" Cole frowned.

"Shut up." He repeated. "He's near."

"Who's near?" Cole looked around.

It was at that moment when Nadakhan pounced like a leopard. He grabbed them and teleported to his torture room, his favourite room in his house.

"Where are we?!" Kai asked.

"Hey, you're the pirate from the docks." Lloyd pointed out.

"Thank you for pointing that out, captain obvious." Nadakhan rolled his eyes.

Jay looked around at the weapons. He remembered a few of them from before. Such as the weapons that were used during the games of Scrap 'n' Tap. He didn't know if he would remember him but he kept quiet and positive just as Cole had told him.

"Woah!!!! Could weapons!! Looks like fun!!" Jay exclaimed as he wandered around the room.

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Jay quit messing around." He groaned. "This is serious."

"Wait, Jay? As in Jay Walker?" Nadakhan's eyes grew wider. "Or should I say... Jay Gordon?"

Everyone looked at Jay. He froze still, slightly scared.

"Gordon?" Cole frowned.

"Oh, buddy! We need to catch up!" Nadakhan laughed.

"No, we don't." Jay sighed.

"Where's Nya? Oh, boy, I missed her." He smiled, evilly.

"Jay, what is he talking about?" Zane asked.

"This isn't the first time I've encountered him." Jay stared at his feet.

"Oh, so you remember?" Nadakhan added. "I heard you and Nya got back together. How's that working out for ya?"

"It's complicated," Jay replied.

"Shame. Does she remember it all too?" He asked.

"How are you here?! My final wish banished you forever!" Jay exclaimed.

"Forever? Well I'm here, aren't I?" Nadakhan grinned.

"I don't know what you want with us or me but leave us alone. We never did anything to you!" He shouted.

"You killed my father!!!!!!" Nadakhan yelled back.

"W-what?" Jay stuttered.

"Woah, when was this?!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I'm so confused." Cole murmured.

"How did we kill your father?" Jay asked, hesitantly.

"After you destroyed the Curse Realm, my home realm, Djinnjago, was also destroyed, killing my father along with it. And you are to pay for it." He explained.

"It was Jay's fault!" Kai lied.

"Nice try, Kai." Nadakhan sneered.

"How does he know my name?" Kai whispered to Zane. He just shrugged. None of this was in Zane's memory.

"We didn't mean to destroy your home realm or kill your father." Lloyd apologized.

"I suppose I could let you go." Nadakhan began to smirk.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief. He thought his friends would have to go through everything he had to go through before.

"On one condition." He added.

"Name it and you can have it," Cole told him.

"I get to keep Jay." Nadakhan finished.

Jay's eyes widened, so did his friends'.

"No. We can't do that." Kai argued.

Jay rolled his eyes. He knew this day would come again, just not this soon. He wandered over to his friends to say his goodbyes.

"Look, guys, you have to let me go. If you don't, he won't leave us. He won't leave Ninjago." He explained.

"How do you know that?!" Cole exclaimed.

"There's no time. Ask Nya. She'll tell you everything." He ordered.

"We can't just leave you here, Jay. We need you." Zane added.

"No, you don't." He sighed.

"Did you want me to say anything to Nya for you?" Kai asked.

"I have nothing to say to her." He stared at his feet.

"But she's your girlfriend!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"We broke up. Well, I broke up with her." He blurted out.

"What, why?!" Zane wondered.

"I can't trust her anymore. Just go. Leave me." Jay ordered.

"We'll come back for you." Cole hugged his best friend.

They all ran off out the door, leaving Jay and Nadakhan alone. Jay sighed as he watched his friends leave without him. It wasn't the first time.

"They won't come back for you," Nadakhan told him from behind.

"I know." He sighed.


	7. Father like son

Nadakhan frowned.

"What do you mean, you know?" He questioned.

Jay sighed. He never thought he'd have to recount these memories but he was wrong.

"They wouldn't remember but back when we were trying to find the Tiger Widow Venom, Cole told everyone a secret I had been keeping and let me just say, they weren't saying the nicest of things." Jay sighed.

"Is that true?" Nadakhan grinned.

"I know they still think that even if they don't remember saying it," Jay added.

"Well, I'm sure they'll come for you. I hope they do." Nadakhan spoke. Jay frowned.

Did Nadakhan just say what he thought he said?

"Wait, you do?" Jay asked.

"Yeah. It just means I can capture you all." Nadakhan laughed.

"Of course." Jay rolled his eyes. "So, what's up first? A good old game of Scrap 'n' tap or are we just gonna get into the torturing stage?"

"You seem excited about this." Nadakhan pointed out.

"It's happened before, why not again?" Jay asked.

"Too easy..." Nadakhan muttered.

"Excuse me?" Jay frowned.

"You're up to something. Well, you know what, I'm gonna send you home." Nadakhan told him.

"You are?!" Jay smiled.

"But you aren't allowed to talk or see your friends. No contact whatsoever." Nadakhan explained.

"But—" Jay began.

"No buts. If you even think about making any contact, I will kill you and l of your friends and family. No more chances." Nadakhan told him.

"F-fine." Jay closed his eyes, tight.

**Later on...**

Nadakhan teleported both himself and the blue ninja to the city. It wasn't that busy as usual.

"Where are we?" Jay looked around.

"I told you. Home." Nadakhan rolled his eyes.

"I live in a junkyard. You know that, right?" Jay told him.

"Yeah, I know. But I've taken you to your real home." Nadakhan grinned.

Jay turned around to see the one and only superstars house, Cliff Gordon's mansion.

Jay turned back to look at Nadakhan, who was still smiling widely.

"You were being serious?" Jay's eyes were wide.

Nadakhan nodded. "I wasn't joking. He's your birth father. Jay, you're adopted." Nadakhan replied.

Once again, Jay looked at the house. It was very large and modernised. That wasn't what Jay wanted.

"I don't want to go in." Jay murmured.

"Why don't you want to meet your father? He's wanted to meet you for years." Nadakhan told him.

"I don't care." Jay sighed.

"Come on, let's go."

Nadakhan opened the gate and walked up to the door.

"Remember what I said." He mouthed to Jay.

Jay sighed and thought for a minute. Was meeting his birth father and living with him in a massive mansion what he wanted? Nadakhan knocked on the door.

Within a few seconds, the superstar opened the door, his eyes grew wider as he realised the villain was stood in front of him.

"Nadakhan? What are you doing here?" Cliff frowned.

Nadakhan said nothing. He handed him a letter explaining everything that he and Jay had to do. Cliff opened it and read it. After reading it, he mover his head up to look at Nadakhan.

"Are you being serious?" He asked. Nadakhan nodded.

Nadakhan moved out the way to reveal the lightning ninja stood at the bottom of the path.

"Jay, come on," Nadakhan called him over.

Slowly, Jay began to approach the door. He couldn't even look Cliff in the eyes.

"Please, come in." Cliff nervously told Jay.

Jay looked at Nadakhan.

"Keep your hands off my friends. Especially Nya." He threatened.

"Even if I did, you can't stop me." Nadakhan smiled.

"I'm warning you. Stay away from her." Jay narrowed his eyes.

"I thought you finished things up with her anyways." Nadakhan frowned.

"It doesn't mean I don't care for her. Just don't touch her, okay?" Jay told him.

"Don't worry. I won't." Nadakhan said before disappearing.

Jay then marched into the house, followed by Cliff.

"Can I get you a drink or something?" Cliff asked.

Jay stayed silent as he sat down on the large couch in the living room.

"S-so... your voice is beautiful." Cliff scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Jay raised his head.

"You do that too?" Jay frowned.

"Do what?" Cliff frowned.

"Scratch the back of your head and stutter when you are shy or nervous," Jay replied.

"Yeah, it's been a habit all my life." Cliff smiled.

"Me too." Jay smiled back. They fell silent once again.

"So..." Cliff began. "How are you?"

"How do you think I am?! I've lost everything!!" Jay exclaimed. "I've lost my friends and my perfect life let alone the love of my life!!!"

"I'm so sorry, Jay." Cliff sighed.

"And I've just found out that I'm adopted! So no, I'm not okay!" He finished.

The room was silent yet again.

"It wasn't Ed and Edna's fault that they didn't tell you." He sighed.

Jay looked up at him.

"You know them?" Jay asked.

"Of course I do! I would never give you to someone that I didn't know. I may have given you away but—" Cliff began.

"Oh wow, what a nice way to put it. You 'gave me away'." Jay rolled his eyes.

"I met Ed and Edna at a cafe a few years before you were born." Cliff started.

"And then you just decided to give them your child? Great move," Jay replied sarcastically.

"No. I met up with them a few more times after that. We became great friends. And when I found out that I was having a son, I was over the moon." Cliff continued.

"So why didn't you raise me?" Jay asked, curiously.

Cliff sighed. This secret was supposed to be a secret. Was Jay ready for the truth?

"It's a long story," Cliff told him.

"I have plenty of time," Jay replied.

Jay had plenty of time. Being stuck with his dad meant that they could catch up on so many years and finally find out the truth about why he was adopted.


	8. A master of lightning

"Let me start from the beginning." Cliff began.

"Please do." Jay agreed.

"When you were born, your mother and I loved you very much but at the hospital, Nadakhan tried to attack both you and your mum," Cliff told him.

"Nadakhan?" Jay frowned. "Didn't he try and attack you too?"

Cliff shook his head.

"Why?" Jay asked.

Cliff took a deep breath. "Because your mother was the master of lightning too."

"What has that got to do with it?!" Jay exclaimed.

"There are only two things that can stop a djin. Tiger Widow Venom and... a master of lightning" Cliff replied.

"W-what?" Jay muttered.

"I remember exactly what happened like it only happened yesterday..." He began to tell Jay the story.

**Flashback**

The very happy mother sat in the hospital bed, holding her newborn baby. Her handsome husband walked in and gasped.

"Oh, he's beautiful." He exclaimed.

"I know. He is the most gorgeous baby I have ever seen. He's going to look just like you." She smiled.

Cliff smiled back at her, except this smile was different. It was a whole nee level of happiness.

Suddenly, the doctor rushed in with a huge smile on her face.

"Good news! He's all well, no problems." She began. "But you must know one thing."

"What is it?" Cliff asked.

"He has an elemental power." She smiled.

The couple looked at each other and back down at their sleeping son.

"Lightning."

The mother smiled wider than ever before although Cliff's expression was completely the opposite.

"He's going to grow up just like me! A hero!" She giggled as the nurse left.

She looked up at her husband, now worried.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I don't think that will be a very good idea." Cliff began.

"Why?" She frowned.

"After everything you have been through, I'd hate to see him get hurt," Cliff told her. She glanced at her beautiful son and smiled a little.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

All of a sudden, a brown misty cloud appeared in the room in front of them.

"Who are you?" Cliff asked, uneasy.

The mother pulled the baby close to her chest to keep him safe. Nobody was going to take him away from her.

"Nadakhan and you are master of lightning. So is the child." He grinned.

"Do we know you?" She snarled.

"You do now. Listen, all I want is to kill you. You and your son. Lightning is the only element that can stop me. I'm not taking any chances." Nadakhan explained.

"Kill us?" She repeated, worriedly.

"Stay away from my family." Cliff stepped forward.

Nadakhan laughed as he threw a punch towards Cliff. He barely dodged it. The evil djin looked over at the mother and son, smirking.

"Now to take care of you two." He smiled.

At that moment, the police commissioner burst into the room and tackled Nadakhan to the ground.

"Get off me, you idiot!!!!!" Nadakhan screamed.

"You are going to prison, my friend." He tied him up in handcuffs.

"We are NOT friends. I may not be able to get you, Master of Lightning but I will FIND your son and KILL him." He yelled before disappearing.

"He can teleport." The police commissioner sighed. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, yes thank you, officer." Cliff smiled a little. It was fake.

The police commissioner exited the room, leaving the couple with their son.

"What do we do now? He's going to come back for him!" She exclaimed.

"We can't keep him safe by ourselves." Cliff sighed.

"I know what we have to do." She frowned.

"What?" He asked.

"We have to give him up." She told him.

"What?! No, we can't do that! We can protect him! I promise!" Cliff exclaimed.

"It's the only way we can keep him safe. We have to, Cliff. If you want our son to survive, it's the only thing we can do." She argued.

"Who can we trust to look after him properly?" Cliff asked.

Even though it hurt, he knew that he had to do it to keep him safe. He wanted to raise him more than anything but making sure he lived a happy and healthy life was number one on his to-do list.

"What about Ray and Maya?" She suggested.

"No, they've already got their hands full looking after Kai. Plus, they've got another baby on the way. Why would they want to look after one more?" Cliff told her.

"Right. How about Ed and Edna?" She smiled.

Cliff thought for a second.

"We've known them for a few years now and they are so sweet and kind. Plus, they live in a junkyard, which Nadakhan is less likely to search." She continued.

"That's a good idea, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders.

"There is only one more thing that will secure our family's safety." She looked down at her son.

"What is it?" He frowned.

"I have to leave." She spoke.

"You what?!" He exclaimed.

"I have to leave here and travel somewhere far away from the city. I have a place in mind but you can't know where it is." She told him.

"Why?!" He yelled.

"Our safety, Cliff." She replied, calmly.

"We should at least give him a name first," Cliff suggested.

"What about... Ren?" She replied.

"Or we could call him... Jay?" Cliff grinned. She smiled at him.

"I like that. I like that a lot." She kissed her son on the forehead before passing him to her husband.

"I love you, Jay." She smiled as she looked up at Cliff. "Make sure Ed and Edna know what to do."

Cliff nodded.

She got up off the bed and left the room. And that was the last time he saw her.

**End of Flashback**

"So that must have been why Nadakhan was picking on me so much when he first found us." Jay sighed.

Cliff nodded.

"But he didn't kill me." Jay frowned.

"You were unsure of your power. He mustn't have been worried." Cliff told him.

"So she just left?" Jay asked. Cliff nodded.

"She never spoke to me again," Cliff replied.

"I-I'm sorry." Jay looked at his father in the eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. It was kept from you all your life and now your life could be at risk again." Cliff told him.

Jay looked away.

"Can I ask you something?" Jay wondered.

"Sure, anything," Cliff replied.

"Who is my mother?" Jay asked.

Cliff sighed. "Anything but that..."

"I'm guessing I'm not allowed to know then." Jay rolled his eyes.

"It's only for safety reasons... I'm sorry." Cliff told him.

"It's okay." Jay smiled a little.

"Let me show you to your room." Cliff hoped that the tension would go away in time for dinner.


	9. I will come for you

At dinner, Jay sprinted down the stairs and sat down at the dinner table, where Cliff was waiting.

They didn't speak for the duration until they had finally finished.

"My room is nice," Jay spoke up.

"I'm glad you like it. It was just the guest bedroom but nobody ever uses it. Plus, it's blue." Cliff winked.

Jay smiled a little.

"Nadakhan said something about you and Nya. What happened?" He asked.

"That's none of your business." Jay snarled.

Cliff sighed, "Jay, please."

"She was sick and went to see a doctor. She then proceeded to lie to me about it. And she told everybody the truth except for me." He explained.

"So what exactly was wrong with her?" Cliff wondered.

"You probably won't believe me but... she has an allergy to the element, lightning." Jay sighed.

"I believe it. Your mother told me about it when we were younger. Before everything happened..." He replied.

"I thought I could trust her. She's supposed to tell me these things. Yet she didn't." Jay looked down.

"I'm sorry." Cliff apologized.

"Stop apologising. None of this is your fault." Jay told him.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you." Cliff started. "This is the first time I've met you. I'm just trying to make a good impression."

Jay looked up at him.

"Why don't we go to the city tomorrow?" Cliff suggested.

"But what if someone sees me?" Jay asked.

"I won't let that happen. It would also be a good chance to get to know each other a little better." Cliff replied.

Jay thought for a minute.

If he was to be spotted by any of his friends, they'd instantly want to talk to him. Was he willing to risk it?

"If anything goes wrong or if anyone sees me, we come straight back. And I'm blaming it on you." Jay agreed.

"I find that fair." Cliff wasn't going to let anything bad happen.

**Meanwhile...**

"What do you mean you just let him there?!" Nya exclaimed.

"We had no other choice," Kai told her.

"Nadakhan could kill him!!" Nya yelled at her brother.

"Jay is strong, we all know that. I'm sure he can face a djin alone." Zane spoke.

Nya looked at Zane in disagreement.

Cole spoke up, "I don't think it will be that easy."

Everybody looked at Cole, confused. Except for Nya, of course, who knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Cole, what are you talking about?" Lloyd frowned.

Cole looked up at his friends, realising what he just said.

"Oops, wasn't supposed to say that." Cole giggled, nervously.

"Tell us what happened," Kai ordered.

"I can't. I've sworn to secrecy." Cole replied.

"By who?" Zane asked.

Cole stayed quiet. If he told them who told him the secret, Nya wouldn't get any peace. She needed that right now. One, she was still really sick from her allergy and two, Jay was now with Nadakhan meaning she would be uneasy until they got him back.

"Me." Nya interrupted.

"So you two are keeping secrets from not only us but from Jay too?! I don't think that's a very good idea." Kai told them.

"No! It was Nya who told me. Jay has no idea that I know. Jay and Nya have kept it a secret for a little while." Cole told them.

"Cole! You can't tell them that! They'll keep begging me to tell them. They can't know." Nya exclaimed.

"Sorry, but they're being demanding!!" Cole answered back.

"No, they aren't!" Nya shouted back.

Kai rolled his eyes and Zane sighed. Every time one of the team members were in trouble, an argument of some sort had to break out and they were all getting sick of it.

"Guys, stop arguing! It isn't any of our business so if you don't want to tell us, that's fine." Lloyd got the team's attention, "But right now, we need to focus on rescuing Jay. Arguing is only wasting our time."

Cole and Nya glared at each other in a friendly way.

"Do you know where Nadakhan is keeping Jay?" Nya asked.

"We just came from there," Kai told her.

"Then let's go!" Nya smiled with excitement.

She began to skip off to the door to go and rescue Jay but before she could get any further, her brother stopped her movement by gripping onto her shoulders.

"Not so fast, sis." Kai interrupted.

"What's wrong? You know where Jay is, let's go get him!" She told him, impatiently.

"Nadakhan will be expecting us to come back for Jay. He'll be prepared. We need a plan." Zane cut in.

Nya scowled as she listened to the whole plan.

**Meanwhile...**

Nadakhan was sat in the 'torture room' talking with his fellow crewmate and friend, Clancee.

"So, master, where is the ninja? You told me you had him." Clancee pointed out eventually.

"He's with his father," Nadakhan responded, feeling defeated.

"You let him go?" Clancee frowned, "That isn't like you."

"No, he's with his birth father. He also isn't allowed to talk or communicate with anyone else such as his friends and family." Nadakhan sighed.

"So you've won? That's great! Why aren't we celebrating?" Clancee asked.

"Because we haven't won yet," Nadakhan told him.

If Nadakhan had truly won, Jay would have given in and joined Nadakhan's crew, much like he did before when he scrubbed the decks of the never-forgotten Misfortunes Keep. Jay hadn't given in but he was close to, Nadakhan could sense it. He didn't give in as Jay seemed to be stronger than what the djin thought. This is why he took a different approach this time. Whether it was going to work was beyond him.

"He seems to be getting along with his father very well, which worries me." Nadakhan explained, "That is not what I wanted. I want him to have a terrible time and I want him to miss his friends and family. I want to make him feel bad for what he did to me."

"And I'm sure he does feel bad, master. He probably does miss his friends and family too. Plus, why is it bad if he and his father are getting along?" Clancee wondered.

"Because that wasn't my plan. I planned to make Jay suffer the consequences and beg me to take him home. He'd have to learn the hard way, Clancee." Nadakhan replied.

"Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to," Clancee argued.

"Excuse me?" Nadakhan snapped.

"I'm just saying that when you plan something, you can't expect it to go the same way that you planned it," Clancee explained.

"Get out," Nadakhan growled.

"Huh?"

"GET OUT!" Nadakhan yelled.

Clancee quickly jumped up and shuffled out of the room faster than you could say 'First Spinjitzu Master'.

Nadakhan wasn't the best person to mess with when he's mad. Or regularly. Especially today.

Nadakhan sighed as he picked up his notebook and pen and tried to think of a new plan to make the blue ninja suffer.

**Meanwhile...**

"Wait, so you're telling me that Nadakhan has him in his torture room getting ready to torture him whilst you lot all came home, calmer than the frickin' ocean and sayin' 'oh yeah we'll totally go back for him eventually'?" Nya rushed.

The boys all exchanged looks before someone finally spoke up.

"Pretty much," Kai replied, smartly.

"Oh my— wow! I cannot believe you guys! Do you have any idea of what Nadakhan can do to Jay?!" Nya exclaimed.

They exchanged looks again, kind of freaked out about Nya's reaction.

"No," Kai replied.

"But Jay's strong. He can fend for himself for a couple of hours or days whilst we figure out what to do." Cole spoke up.

"Couple of days?! He wouldn't last a couple of minutes with him!" Nya yelled.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a tiny bit?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why don't you believe in Jay?" Zane questioned.

"Of course I believe in him but you guys don't know Nadakhan as I do. He's powerful. Too powerful for us all put together. But with Jay alone, he'll be toast. He barely survived the first time." Nya explained.

Cole's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! We left him there by himself too! I feel so bad!"

"You should! We'll be lucky if he's still alive by the time we get there. I do trust Jay to stick up for himself, he does that very well but against Nadakhan, he's worthless." Nya told them.

"Calm down, get some water, take your allergy medicine and we'll come up with a plan for the four of us to go and save him," Lloyd ordered.

"Wait what do you mean by four?" Nya frowned.

Kai and Lloyd exchanged looks.

"It's best if you stay here. Your allergies could get worse and I don't want to risk it. Sorry, sis." Kai explained.

"No. I'm not staying here, being worried sick about my Jay. He may have broken up with me but I am going to prove that I love him and I care enough about him to save him from his worst nightmare." Nya argued.

"But don't you remember the reason why he broke up with you?" Cole asked her.

"Of course I do." She replied.

"Not only did you lie to him but you were willing to risk your life because of him." Cole reminded her.

"Yeah because I care about him," Nya added.

"But he didn't want you to risk your life for him. He cares about you more than anyone else. He cares about you more than he cares about himself. He'd only be madder at you." Kai told her.

Nya stared off into the distance. She couldn't look at her friends in the eyes right now. Yes, they cared very much about Jay's love for Nya and Nya's love for Jay but sometimes safety had to come before their relationship. That's if they even had one left.

"It's best if you stay here, okay?" Kai told her.

Nya nodded. She knew what was best for her but she also really wanted to be there for Jay. She loved Jay. She always had. This was finally her chance to show that she cared for him more than she ever cared for anyone, including her brother. No matter how much she wanted to disagree, she knew her health had to come first, which is what Jay had wanted.

"Fine just keep me updated, okay? I just want to know if he's safe. Or alive. Either one is fine." She smiled a little, trying to crack a joke just like what Jay would do if he was there. But he wasn't...


	10. We will find you

Cole, Zane, Kai and Lloyd set off back to Nadakhan's base, leaving Nya behind. Not only was she feeling ill but now she felt even worse after knowing that the love of her life could be suffering. The worst thing was that she was blaming herself even though none of it was her fault. Being left alone back at the bounty was not a good idea but at least she had time to think of how to get Jay back. Yes, she broke his trust but she was sure that with enough effort, she could win him back no matter how long it took her.

As the guys were beginning to arrive, Cole stopped, catching the others' attention.

"What's up?" Lloyd asked his rocky friend.

Cole looked worried. He felt worried. What if what Nya said was true?

"What if Jay is dead by the time we get there?" Cole asked, shakily.

"Don't think about that. As you said, Jay is strong. I'm sure he can cope." Zane tried to change his mind.

Cole sighed, "I just don't want to see Jay like that. He's like my little brother. He always has been. I can't lose him. I just can't."

"Nobody wants to lose Jay. He is our brother. Always and forever. I'm sure he'll be okay." Kai agreed.

"I don't know what I'd do if he was gone. I could never fight again knowing that my best friend is dead." Cole added.

"There's only one way to find out." Lloyd looked over to see Nadakhan's base. It was dark and mysterious, much like how Garmadon's had been.

As they snuck through the door, Zane tried to navigate the torture room.

"This way," Zane whispered as he led his teammates to the correct destination.

"Here we go." Kai nodded at Lloyd.

"It's awfully quiet..." Cole mumbled.

"Let's do this." Zane joined in.

Stepping back, Kai narrowed his eyes at the rusty door, getting ready to hit it was full power, hopefully breaking it into pieces.

They hadn't been able to discuss a proper plan but they planned to barge in and attack at full power, with Jay hopefully joining in whether he was well enough.

The door broke into multiple pieces as the guys' rushed in to see Nadakhan sat down with Clancee, who was scared out of his skin.

"Jay?! Jay?! Where are you?!" Cole looked around.

"Oh great. You lot are back." Nadakhan rolled his eyes.

"Where's Jay?" Kai asked Cole.

"He's not here..." Cole sounded scared. He began to shake, getting more and more nervous every second. Zane began to comfort him.

"It's okay. I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Zane told him.

"Where is he?" Lloyd glared.

"Oh yeah, he's with his father," Nadakhan told them.

"Really?" Kai asked.

"Yeah."

This was strange. Nadakhan would never tell them where Jay was so easily unless he was up to something.

"So you're just gonna tell us like that?" Lloyd frowned.

"Yeah." Nadakhan began. "Wait! You can't talk to him or make any communication. I told him that if you or he did, then I'd kill everyone he cares about right in front of him."

"That's sick," Kai yelled.

Cole grew angry. He began to grit his teeth as he tensed up, Zane noticed this.

"Don't worry, Cole. At least he's alive." Zane told him as Cole sighed.

**Meanwhile...**

Nya sat down on the couch, waiting for his friends to return with Jay. She wanted him to be okay but she was almost one hundred per cent sure that whatever the evil djin threw at him, he couldn't face. After all, he barely survived the first game of Scrap 'n' Tap let alone the second and third. When Cole had found him on Misfortunes Keep, he was weak. Very weak.

That's what Nya was worried about. She was worried that even if he was alive, he'd be too weak. Too weak to be able to move or breath.

Nya went to the kitchen and made herself a sandwich to pass the time. She looked at the tuna sandwich and it reminded her of the time when she and Jay went fishing together whilst on vacation in Jamanakai Village. Nya was no longer hungry. She just wanted her cuddly Jay back.

**Meanwhile...**

The guys approached the only place where Jay could be. It may have been in the middle of the desert, it may have been a pretty loud place (usually) but they were determined to find their cheerful friend.

"If he isn't here, what do we tell Nya?" Lloyd asked as they marched through the sand.

"Let's not think about that right now. Plus, Nadakhan did tell us that he was with his father." Zane pointed out.

"But he could have been lying." Kai suggested, "He's a villain. He'll take any chance he can get to destroy us."

"He doesn't seem pretty bothered about us, though. We just burst into his base and he didn't even bother capturing us. It's like he's only out to get Jay." Cole spoke up.

Even though Cole was sensitive about the situation at the moment, he still managed to chip in and remain calm. Sharing his thoughts could also help him. On the bright side, the others were always really understanding, especially about something important to one of them. Except if you were Jay, where you'd be made fun of for sharing your ideas or feelings sometimes, which is why Jay was more of a jokester instead of a guy who shares his feelings with the world. If he wanted to tell someone how he felt, he'd usually speak to Cole or Nya in private. They were the most understanding.

They all remained silent until Zane spotted something in the distance. Something familiar.

"There it is!" Zane pointed.

There, in all its glory, was Ed & Edna's Junk Yard. And of course, even though the ninja were still far away, they could hear the noise quite clearly, signalising that the old couple were in and were definitely up to something.

Cole began to sprint, soon followed by Kai, Lloyd and Zane.

They ran through the main entrance as Edna spotted their familiar (and out of breath) faces. She greeted them with a warm smile.

"Ah! It's lovely to see you all again." She smiled, "ED! The lovely boys from that ninja group are here!"

It almost made Kai jump as he forgot how loud Edna can be. Within a few seconds, Ed came into view.

"Oh, look who it is. Where's my favourite son?" He smiled.

"Yeah, where is Jay?" Edna frowned.

Cole, Zane, Kai and Lloyd exchanged looks.

"But he's here, isn't he?" Kai asked.

Ed and Edna looked at each other and frowned.

"Is Jay playing tricks on you again?" Edna wondered.

"Or is he plays tricks on us?" Ed raised an eyebrow.

"No. We were told that he was here." Lloyd added.

Edna frowned. This news was unfamiliar to her. Neither she or Ed had seen their son in a few years. Yes, he made frequent phone calls but they hadn't physically seen him for a while.

"What were you told exactly?" Edna asked.

"Well, Jay was kidnapped and we went to where he was taken. The guy who took him told us that he was with his father." Cole explained.

"He hasn't come here," Edna replied.

"No, I haven't seen him." Ed agreed.

"So where could he be?" Kai frowned.

Cole groaned, "We've been sent on a wild goose chase!"

"Maybe Nadakhan still has him?" Kai suggested.

"That wouldn't be possible. There was no sign of him being there. Plus, if he still had him, he wouldn't have let us go. He would have captured us too." Zane informed him.

"So what do we do now?" Cole asked.

"I guess we go home..." Kai sighed.

"And tell Nya what?!" Lloyd explained.

The guys thought for a second.

"Jay's dead?" Cole smirked.

"Cole, no!" Zane, Lloyd and Kai exclaimed.

"I'm only trying to lighten things up, just how Jay does." Cole sighed.

"We're just going to have to keep an eye out," Kai told the team.

"Let's go," Zane suggested.

"Thank you, Ed and Edna. Sorry for wasting your time." Lloyd waved them goodbye as they began to leave.

"It's no trouble. Any time. Just let us know if you find Jay." Edna called out to them.


	11. A familiar smile

**At the bounty...**

Nya began to get impatient. The wait was killing her. She desperately wanted to see Jay. That's all she cared about right now.

"Where are they?!" She exclaimed as she paced up and down the living room, her fingers crossed.

Cole marched through the door, soon followed by Kai, Lloyd and Zane. Nya stopped and froze. She didn't spot her Jay. He wasn't there. The only thought that came into her head was, 'He's gone'. Her heart began to beat faster and faster every second until someone finally spoke up.

"You and I are going into the city," Cole told her, grumpily.

"What? Why? Where's Jay?" Nya panicked.

"We went to Nadakhan and he told us that he was with his father but when we went to see Ed, he wasn't there," Zane explained.

"So he's missing?!" Nya exclaimed.

Kai nodded.

"That's why we need to find him." Cole added, "You in?"

"Of course!" Nya didn't think twice. Jay was the most important thing to her.

**In the city...**

"I'm enjoying today." Jay smiled, "This was a great idea."

"I'm glad." Cliff smiled back as he sipped on his cup of warm coffee.

All-day, Cliff and Jay had looked around shops, many shops, and nobody even asked for an autograph or tried to start a conversation with them, which was weird because Jay was a ninja that protected Ninjago and Cliff was a famous actor. It didn't bother them, though. It made their day a whole lot better. Now they were sat in the corner of Cliff's favourite coffee shop, right next to the window.

"I've enjoyed getting to know you," Cliff told Jay.

"I never really imagined meeting you. You were my favourite movie star growing up but I haven't paid attention to any of your movies at the moment due to training and everything happening, you know. I haven't had any time. Being a ninja is tough." Jay explained.

"I know. It was the same for your mother. No rest." Cliff agreed.

"So... are you going to tell me about who she is?" Jay asked.

Cliff sighed, "No."

"Can you at least tell me what she was like?" Jay wondered.

Cliff thought for a second. Telling Jay who she was and telling him what she was like were two different things.

"You are very much like her." Cliff began, "Creative, positive, kind, honest, funny, pulling out corny jokes whenever you can."

Jay smiled at this. Jay was famous for his corny jokes. Everybody loves them, especially Nya.

"You also have her beautiful blue eyes." He added. Jay looked up at his father.

"Now you're just giving her away." Jay joked.

"Oops." Cliff giggled, "I do miss her."

"Where is she?" Jay frowned.

Cliff took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure." He replied.

"You don't know where your wife is?!" Jay exclaimed.

Cliff shook his head, "She hasn't spoken to me for years. Once she had you and made sure we were okay, she left without a word. I put up missing posters and everything. I got the police involved but they eventually became bored and forgot all about the case. I never saw her again."

Jay frowned.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Jay apologised, "but at least you were able to open up to me."

"True. It feels so good to get off my chest." Cliff smiled a little, "but I'm past it all now."

The door to the coffee shop opened and a blonde woman with bright blue eyes walked in. Cliff's focus moved away from Jay and over at the woman. He looks confused but shocked. Jay frowned.

"What? What is it?" Jay asked as he turned around to see the woman.

Cliff said nothing.

Jay gasped and turned back to Cliff. A grin formed over his face.

"Is that—" He began.

"You don't say anything. She can't know that it's you!" He told Jay.

"Why?" Jay frowned.

"Because I don't trust her. If she comes over here, pretend you're my friend." Cliff ordered.

"O-okay." Jay stuttered.

The woman looked over at the only table left empty, next to theirs.

"Oh no..." Cliff muttered as the woman walked over to the table and sat down.

"So, friend, shall we continue our conversation from where we left off?" Jay winked.

"You know what, let's change the subject," Cliff suggested. The woman looked up and frowned.

"Cliff?" She questioned. Cliff looked nervous whilst Jay had no clue what to do or say. He just sat there and listened, patiently.

"H-hey," Cliff replied.

"Long time no see." She smiled at him.

Cliff looked back over at Jay, ignoring his 'wife'.

"So...how's your girlfriend?" He asked Jay, trying to change the subject.

"I told you, I broke up with her." Jay rolled his eyes.

"Ah right. I remember." Cliff remembered.

"Because she's allergic to—" Jay started.

"Yes! I remember!" Cliff interrupted.

Jay then realised what he was about to say. If he finished that sentence, he would have given himself away.

Jay looked out the window to see two familiar faces.

"So, how are you doing?" The woman spoke up.

"Hide me!" Jay screeched, catching both Cliff and the woman's attention.

"From what?" The woman frowned.

"Them!" Jay pointed at the people outside, across the road.

It was Cole and Nya.

"Oh, your friends." Cliff rolled his eyes.

He then realised what he just said and gasped.

"Your friends!"

"What so wrong about his friends?" The woman questioned.

"It's none of your business!" Cliff told her off.

She quickly shut up, shocked.

Jay couldn't hear what Nya and Cole were saying but he knew exactly what it was about.

"We've looked everywhere for him." Nya sighed.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Cole told her.

"It's time we give up now, Cole. There's nowhere else that he could be. Just admit it, he's gone!" She exclaimed. Cole placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't think that. Ninja never quit." Cole told her. Nya's eyes began to fill with tears. One rolled down her left cheek.

"A ninja never leaves another ninja behind," Cole added.

No matter how hard Nya tried to keep the tears kept in, she couldn't. She hated showing her emotions, especially in front of her friends. She was strong. At least that was what the others thought. Showing weakness wasn't on Nya's to-do list. She never planned on it. Now she just felt like an idiot. An idiot that had to get all of her emotions out and what better way to do it than in the middle of the city, in front of one of her closest and understanding friends. What made it even better was the fact that Cole felt the same. He wanted to find Jay more than anything. He missed his loveable, joyful, best friend.

Jay sat in the cafe, watching them like a hawk. Even though he knew nothing was going on between them, there was still a feeling inside of him that couldn't help but think, 'what if they still like each other?'

Cole watched Nya a few more tears dribble down the water ninja's cheeks. He wiped them away, not lifting her spirit at all. He looked her in her glistening ocean blue eyes. She looked in his charcoal black pearls.

"You just gotta have a little more faith." He tucked a strand of her soft black hair behind her hair as if it was a precious gemstone.

Nya showed no emotions. She was heartbroken. First, she lied to Jay. Then he broke up with her and went missing. And then there's Cole, who of course she has no feelings for. Cole's trying to make her feel better but she feels no different.

Jay's heart was beating fast. Faster than usual. This wasn't happening. He wasn't losing Nya to his best friend. Not again.

"I know what will lighten the mood." Cole grinned, "Knock knock."

"Oh really?!" Nya complained.

"Come on." Cole playfully nudged Nya's arm. She smiled a little.

"Who's there?" Nya rolled her eyes.

"Voodoo."

"Voodoo who?" Nya questioned.

"Voodoo you think you are, asking all these questions?!" Cole finished.

Nya laughed, "You're just as bad as Jay."

"See, it made you laugh, didn't it?" Cole smiled.

Nya nodded.

"Come on, bring it in." Cole held out his arms, ready for a hug. Nya leaned in and wrapped her arms around Cole's strong, muscular body. He hugged her back.

"Thanks, Cole," Nya mumbled.

"No problem," Cole replied.

Jay's heart skipped a beat. He began to panic. What does he do?

"I'm sure it isn't what it looks like," Cliff told Jay.

As they pulled away, Nya felt her nose tingle. Within a few seconds, what felt like coming, came. A sneeze. She and Cole gasped.

"He's nearby," Cole exclaimed as he looked around. Nya did the same.

Jay hid behind the cafe menu.

"What?" Cliff frowned.

"She sneezed," Jay whispered.

"So?" The woman joined in.

"She's allergic to—" He stopped before realising what he was about to say. Cliff was proud of him for that.

Cliff gasped.

"They know I'm nearby. It won't be long before they find me." He added, still hiding behind the menu, hoping not to be seen.

Cliff could still see what they were doing, Jay could not. But that didn't mean that they couldn't see him.

"What are they doing?" Jay asked.

Cliff peered out the window, realising what was about to happen.

"Oh no! They're coming in!" Cliff exclaimed.

"What?!" Jay shouted. He threw the menu down on the table and ran out the nearest door to them, the one furthest away from the main entrance, where Nya and Cole were coming in from. He ran down the road and almost out of sight.

"Jay, wait!" Cliff also got up and ran out the door after him.

"Jay?" The woman whispered as she frowned.

She recognised that name but from where?


	12. My son, the blue ninja

Nya and Cole took in their surroundings. They spotted an empty table right next to a blonde-haired confused-looking woman.

"Is this table taken?" Cole asked the woman.

The woman looked out the window and down the street, trying to spot Cliff and Jay.

"I don't think they'll be coming back..." She told them.

"Who's they?" Nya asked as she sat down.

"I don't know but they seemed pretty eager to get out of here." She replied as she remembered how Jay didn't want them to spot him. She just decided to keep Cliff's identity secret too.

"I'm Nya." Nya held out her hand to the woman, "And this is Cole."

"Nice to meet you." She smiled and shook their hands, "I'm Sabrina."

"That's a nice name." Nya smiled back.

"I could say the same to you," Sabrina added.

"We were wrong—" Cole began before he was rudely interrupted.

"Sorry if I'm being a nuisance but are you two like girlfriend and boyfriend?" Sabrina remembered how Jay had reacted when he saw them together. It began to bubble in her head so she just had to ask.

"No!" Cole exclaimed.

"There are no feelings towards each other at all," Nya told Sabrina.

"Oh okay." Sabrina nodded, realising that Jay had got it all wrong.

"We're trying to look for our friend." Nya took a picture of Jay out of her pocket and showed Sabrina, "have you seen him?"

"I swear I saw him somewhere," Sabrina responded.

She knew exactly where he was and who he was with but she decided not to say anything. With the way both Cliff and Jay reacted, they might want to stay away from Cole and Nya for a reason. But that reason could be anything.

"Maybe if we told you more about him, it might jog your memory," Cole suggested.

"That's a great idea! Thank you!" Sabrina smiled.

"His name is Jay Walker and he's a ninja, along with us. We protect Ninjago as well as being elemental masters. I don't know if you've ever heard of him but he's the elemental master of lightning." Nya explained.

"Master of lightning?" She frowned.

Cole nodded.

This was weird. Not only was his name Jay and he was with Cliff but he was the master of lightning? What confused her, even more, was that Sabrina was also a master of lightning.

"Is there something wrong?" Cole asked.

"Who is the master/sensei of the ninjas?" Sabrina wondered.

"Master Wu, why?" Nya replied.

"May I speak with him? I might have some news about your friend."

**At the Bounty...**

In the centre of Sensei's dimly lit room sat Wu, meditating. He peacefully took deep breaths, slowly breathing out again. This repeated, making him and his surroundings calm until loud steps like a heard of elephants were heard coming down the corridor. Wu rolled his eyes. His students were always noisy and didn't respect their master's meditation time.

Cole burst into the room, startling Wu.

"Sensei, we have someone who might know where Jay is," Cole said, out of breath.

Wu sat with his back to the door, "You said that last time."

He thought that it was just an excuse to annoy Sensei again but little did he know, it wasn't.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Sabrina's familiar voice startled Wu.

"Cole and Nya, please leave. And don't even think about eavesdropping or you'll do all the chores for a month." Wu told them, still having his back to them.

"Yes, Sensei." They spoke as they left and closed the door behind them.

Wu sighed, "When did you get back?"

"Today." She replied.

"Have you spoken to Cliff yet?" He asked.

"I bumped into him and his friend at a cafe in the city today but they were acting weird." She told him.

"Tell me more."

She jogged her memory as she tried to remember every single detail.

"They were fine until Jay saw Cole and Nya and then he started acting weird. Then they started to come into the cafe and Jay and Cliff ran off." Sabrina began.

"How do you know his name?" Wu asked.

"Nya told me." She replied.

"Continue."

"Cole and Nya asked if I had seen him and they told me some stuff about him." She added.

"What did they tell you?" He wondered.

"A bunch of stuff including that he is a master of lightning." She crossed her arms.

Wu sighed. He knew what was coming.

"I told you that I didn't want him to be a ninja!" She exclaimed.

"I had to," Wu told her.

"That's why I left!" She shouted.

Wu said nothing. He was in big trouble with one of his former students.

"So he's with Cliff?" Wu changed the subject. Sabrina nodded.

"I know where Cliff lived too, I can take Cole and Nya there." She suggested.

"I don't think it will be a very good idea of taking Nya," Wu told her.

"Why?" She frowned.

"She has an allergy to Jay's elemental power. She's taking medication but we have no idea how much longer it's going to take to get over the allergy. Jay and Nya got into an argument, Jay broke up with her and that's how this whole thing happened." He explained.

"Oh. I had no idea. Sorry." She apologised.

"There's no need to apologise. Just take Cole with you. Jay's more likely to listen to him at this point." Wu added.

"Thank you, Sensei." Sabrina smiled before leaving.

**At Cliff's house...**

"That was close. Way too close." Jay breathed a sigh of relief as they closed the front door.

"It's not long before Sabrina finds us. She knows I live here." Cliff told his son.

"What if she tells Nya and Cole where I am?! Or who I'm with?! What if they try and find me or talk to me or make contact with me?! What do I do?! And I can't face them, not now! Not after seeing them together!" Jay paced up and down the living room, trying to plan his escape route, which was mot very successful so far.

"I'm sure you'll think of something. You always do." Cliff gave him a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, dad." Jay smiled back.

Cliff froze, "D-did you just call m-me, d-dad?"

Jay scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "y-yeah, I guess I did."

Cliff pulled Jay into a hug, Jay hugged back. Jay wasn't going to lie. It felt good. Sure, he hugged Ed all the time and that felt good but this was different. This was his birth father. The guy who gave him life. Jay never felt any better.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door, startling both Jay and Cliff making them break apart. Jay ram halfway up the stairs so he couldn't be seen as Cliff went to open the door. He looked through the spy hole and turned to Jay.

"It's them, isn't it?" Jay sighed.

Cliff shook his head, "it looks like a boy around your age."

"Open it," Jay told him.

Cliff opened the door, revealing the thin-brown haired boy standing there smiling.

"Sorry to bother you but I'm wondering if you've seen this person." He held up a picture of two children. One with short black hair and the other with short brown hair.

Cliff turned to look at Jay to see if he recognised the person but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well she's a lot older now but I haven't seen her for nine years." He added, "Her name is Nya Smith."

Jay's eyes widened. He thought he saw that little girl from somewhere and he did. Nya had shown him pictures of her when she and Kai were younger and were still at the Blacksmith's shop. She looked the same. But who was this guy and how does he know her?

"I know Nya," Jay spoke up. Cliff turned to see his son again.

"You do?" The boy smiled, "Sorry, I'm being so rude. Let me introduce myself. I'm Ben."

"Jay. It's a pleasure to meet you." Jay smiled back.

"Cliff." Cliff shook Ben's hand.

"So how do you know Nya?" Jay asked Ben, curiously.

"She's my girlfriend."


	13. The same girlfriend

"I'm sorry, what?!" Jay exclaimed.

"We've been together for eleven years. She never came back home so I thought I'd come looking for her." Ben said.

"Wait so you haven't seen her for nine years? That's when she left?" Jay asked.

"Yep."

"And you've been together for eleven years?" Jay wondered.

"That is correct."

Jay ran up the stairs angrily.

"How could I be so stupid?!" He shouted as he slammed his bedroom door.

"Hey, what's going on?" A voice spoke from behind Ben.

Ben looked behind him, revealing it to be Cole and Sabrina. Cliff gasped.

"Nope! This is bad! Um, Ben, we don't know where she is but if we see her we'll let you know." Cliff rushed.

"No, we won't!" Jay called from upstairs. Cliff rolled his eyes.

"Don't stop looking. Have a nice day see you around!" Cliff slammed the door in his face.

"What just happened?" Cole frowned.

"I have no idea." Ben walked down the path of the house, wandering out of sight.

Cole let that pass through his mind, letting it go and finally knocking on the large white door, Sabrina behind him.

"Coming!" A voice called from inside.

Cliff opened the door and facepalmed.

"I'm an idiot." He sighed.

"Can we please come in? We need to talk some sense into Jay." Cole asked politely.

"You can't," Cliff replied.

"Please." Cole pleaded.

Cliff sighed, "It isn't Jay's fault."

"He doesn't have to be there," Sabrina suggested.

Cliff thought for a minute. If he let Sabrina and Cole in, they wouldn't be making direct or any contact with Jay at all unless he leaves his bedroom and starts talking to them. Then it's game over.

"Fine but you can't talk to him," Cliff told Cole.

Cole and Sabrina sat down in the living room and looked around at their surroundings. It was all familiar to Sabrina but it was completely new to Cole.

"You haven't changed anything here, have you?" Sabrina spoke up. Cliff shook his head.

"Dad, can I borrow your phone charger please?" Jay shouted from upstairs.

"So that was him who I heard earlier then," Cole spoke.

"Shush!" Cliff demanded.

"Dad?!" Jay shouted again.

"Yeah sure. It's in my bedroom, just go on in." Cliff called back.

"Why is he calling you dad?" Cole asked.

"Can you stop asking questions so I can explain why he's here please?!" Cliff rolled his eyes, "Now. As you know, he was taken by Nadakhan. Nadakhan reasoned with him and sent him here to his father."

"His father? But his father is—" Cole began.

"I'm his birth father." Cliff jumped in.

"Birth father? Jay's adopted?!" Cole exclaimed.

"Shush or he'll hear you!" Cliff ordered.

"Why is it a bad thing that he knows that I'm here?" Cole asked.

"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, promise?" Cliff asked.

"Promise." Cole and Sabrina said in unison.

Cliff took a deep breath, "When Nadakhan sent Jay here, he handed me a letter explaining everything. It said that Jay had to stay with me and wasn't allowed to make any contact or talk to his friends or other family members aka Ed and Edna."

"Okay so one, it wasn't Jay's fault that he went missing/left without telling us. And two, you know Ed and Edna?" Cole frowned.

"Of course I do! I would never give my son away to some random stranger." Cliff rolled his eyes.

After finishing talking with Cliff, Cole left Sabrina and Cliff alone to talk. He knew there was some tension between them so they needed to figure it out. Plus, Cole had something important to do.

Jay sat on the stairs, eavesdropping on Sabrina and Cliff's conversation, hopefully finding something out about his family or what happened to him.

"You could have kept an eye on him instead of giving him away to some random stranger!" Sabrina yelled.

"Ed and Edna aren't some random strangers! They're friends." Cliff shouted back.

"So that's where he was all these years," Sabrina said, angrily.

Jay sighed. He only just met his birth parents and now they were arguing. He hated it. He hated that he couldn't see his friends. He hated that he had to hide from everyone. He hated that he couldn't go home. He hated that Nya had lied to him. Again. First Cole and now Ben? What was going on?!

A familiar voice spoke from behind Jay, "it's not good to eavesdrop."

Jay spun his head around, startled, and spotted Cole.

"You shouldn't be here." Jay started to panic.

"Relax, Nadakhan's out of town for a few days," Cole told him.

"How do you know?" Jay frowned.

"Because I went to see him earlier today, to check if you went back there," Cole replied.

Jay sighed again, admitting defeat. Life wasn't going great for him right now.

"I know you can't but if you come home, we can defeat Nadakhan all together. He'll be gone. You'll be back with us. And most importantly, back with Nya." Cole suggested.

"Back with Nya?" Jay questioned.

"Her allergy has almost gone, said her doctor yesterday. It shouldn't be long now. Once she's better, you can get back together with her and you'll both be happy." Cole told him.

"No, I can't." Jay sighed.

"Why?" Cole asked, sitting down next to Jay.

"This guy named Ben came round earlier to ask if we'd seen Nya." Jay began, "I asked how he knew her and he said that she is his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?! What?!" Cole exclaimed.

"How many times has she lied to me, Cole?! First, you, then the allergy and now this? I've gone so many years thinking that I can trust her but I can't. Not anymore." Jay shouted.

"I understand where you are coming from. You've always been so dedicated to her. You've always loved her. And now she's just throwing it all back in your face. It's not fair." Cole agreed.

"Not to mention what happened in the city today." Jay buried his head in his hands.

"What happened in the city?" Cole asked.

"I saw you two," Jay replied.

Cole fell silent for a few moments. He was in the cafe. He saw what happened between Cole and Nya.

Cole had no feelings for Nya whatsoever. He's desperately trying to get Jay and Nya back together. Cole never pictured himself with Nya. Plus, Jay was his best friend. He could never hurt him like that. Cole may act like an idiot towards Jay sometimes but it doesn't mean that he isn't there for him. He always thought about how Jay felt before doing something. Except for when the love triangle began.

"Look, Jay, what you saw was wrong," Cole told him.

"I saw you flirting with her, Cole!" Jay yelled.

"Oh no, Jay, you've got it all wrong!" Cole panicked.

"So playing with her hair isn't called flirting?" Jay asked sarcastically.

"I wasn't playing with her hair. I was trying to give her some reassurance. She was crying because she wanted to find you. Like desperately. She wanted to give up but I didn't let her." Cole explained.

"So you weren't flirting with her?" Jay wondered.

"No! We even admitted to not having any feelings towards each other. Jay, what you saw, was not what you think." Cole added.

"I'm so sorry for shouting at you. But that doesn't explain the whole Ben thing." Jay pointed out.

"Yeah. Tell me more." Cole said.

"Ben said that they hadn't seen each other for 9 years, which was when Kai became a ninja when they left the Blacksmith's shop. He said that they had been together for 11 years now, which is two years before Kai became a ninja." Jay explained.

"So she's been with another guy all this time without telling anyone?!" Cole questioned.

"And Kai probably knows too," Jay added.

"I could ask him about it," Cole suggested as Jay nodded.

"I didn't give him away!" Cliff shouted.

"No wonder he's a ninja now! You gave him to the least capable people that could take care of Jay! They don't know what's right for children!" Sabrina shouted back.

"I wouldn't have given him to someone who isn't capable, Sabrina," Cliff argued.

"We never should have had him!" Sabrina screamed.

Jay stayed silent. He had nothing to say. A tear fell down his cheek. He was losing everything and it was all Nadakhan's fault. Again.

Cole spotted the tears rolling down his best friend's cheeks. He never saw Jay cry. At least not that he could remember. Jay was always so happy and positive. Seeing him cry wasn't normal. It broke Cole's heart. The loveable, laughable blue ninja was upset.

Cole pulled his best friend into a hug and hugged him tightly. Cole couldn't tell him but he loved Jay. He loved him to pieces but only as a friend. Only as a best friend. No matter what, when or where Jay was, Cole would always be there for him just like how Jay's always there for everyone else.

Jay's tears began to pour out, soaking Cole's favourite brown shirt. He wanted to lighten the mood, just like what he did with Nya, but now wasn't the time. It wasn't the _right_ time.

"They don't want me. Nobody does." Jay cried.

"I want you!" Cole argued.

He wanted to say Nya did too but again, it wasn't the right time. He was mad about Nya, and Cole mentioning her would only make Jay feel worse.

"Don't lie, Cole!" Jay told him.

"Listen to me, you are my best friend. You have always been there for me and the rest of the team no matter what. Nobody has repaid you that, but I will. You have always been like a little brother to me. Not like the others. You've always acted like true family. I never really had any family there for me since my mum passed away. When I became a ninja, you made me happier. I'm who I am today because of you, Jay. Just remember that you aren't alone. I will always be here for you, I promise." Cole explained.

Jay raised his head, shocked. Cole never told anyone how he felt, just like how stubborn Nya was. But it felt good to hear it.

"I never knew you felt that way, Cole," Jay replied.

"I never wanted to admit it but here we are." Cole smiled. Jay giggled a little.

"Thanks, Cole." Jay hugged his best friend again.

"Just remember, I'm not going to leave your side."


	14. My best friend

**At the junkyard...**

The blonde-haired woman approached the familiar-looking scrap home where the very old and polite couple lived. What made it better was that she was alone. Cole was with Jay and Cliff back at the house. Since Nadakhan was out for a few days, Cole wanted to spend all the time that he could with his best friend.

As Sabrina got closer to the entrance, the noise grew louder and louder. She rolled her eyes before entering.

Edna spotted Sabrina and dropped her screwdriver.

"S-Sabrina?" Edna frowned.

"Hi, Edna. It's nice to see you again." Sabrina smiled.

"Um... can I get you a drink or—" Edna asked.

"Nah, I'm good. I just want to catch up, you know." Sabrina told her.

"Oh, s-sure." Edna smiled sweetly, "Ed's out of town so—"

"That's fine." She replied, "how's Jay?"

"Oh he's gr— wait." Edna frowned, "You know?!"

"Wu told me."

"I'm guessing you also know where he is." Edna sighed.

Sabrina nodded.

"EDNA!!! EDNA!!!" Nya ran in through the entrance of the junkyard.

"Nya, honey, are you okay?" Edna asked.

"Cole didn't come home last night. Do you know where he is?" She wondered.

"I do," Sabrina spoke up.

"You, you went with him! Who are you?!" She exclaimed.

"Sabrina. I'm Jay's birth mother." She replied.

Nya frowned, "birth mother?"

Edna looked away. She lied to everyone.

"Jay's adopted." Nya realised.

She remembered Jay's first encounter with Nadakhan when he told him that he was adopted. She never believed it but it was true.

**At Cliff's house...**

Jay had woken up early to have time to think about everything that happened. Cole was staying in Jay's room, sleeping on the bed whilst Jay slept on the floor, being the best friend that he is.

After his conversation with Cole yesterday, Jay was feeling much better. He finally knew that he wasn't alone. That's all he ever wanted. Somebody there for him no matter what. That was Cole.

Jay flicked through his photo album on his phone. There were many pictures of him and the earth ninja, which made him smile.

"Boo!" Cole snook up behind him, startling him.

"Hey, you're up early." Jay smiled at his best friend who was now sat on the chair next to him.

"You were up even earlier." Cole smiled back.

Jay looked down at his phone. There, on the screen, was a picture of him and his best friend.

"I remember that fight like it was yesterday," Cole spoke

"Me too." Jay smiled.

Jay continued to flick through the photos.

"This is one of my favourites," Jay looked Cole in his deep black eyes

"That battle was amazing!" Cole agreed.

"Is Dareth sat on your shoulders?" Jay grinned.

"He begged me," Cole laughed. Jay laughed too.

Jay laughed too

Jay fell silent. He hadn't seen this photo in ages.

"Isn't that from your second date?" Cole asked.

Jay nodded.

"I miss her..." He mumbled.

"What was that?" Cole smirked.

Jay coughed, "nothing."

"Ooooooh." Cole joked.

Jay sighed.

"She loves you. Just look at that picture. She _kissed_ you, Jay." Cole placed a hand on the blue ninja's shoulder.

Cole placed a hand on the blue ninja's shoulder

"Our first kiss..." Jay smiled a little.

"I know you miss her. You can't hide it." Cole smirked.

"You're right. I do miss her. But I can't see her." Jay agreed.

"At least you have me." Cole winked.

"Please don't turn into another me. You know the team already hates it when I get like that. They can't have two people doing it." Jay told Cole.

"Nah, they don't hate it. At least I don't." Cole replied.

"Maybe I made a mistake..." Jay switched off his phone.

"What are you talking about?" Cole frowned.

"I shouldn't have broken up with Nya." Jay began, "Sure she lied to me but she wasn't doing it to make me happy. She cares about me and I was such an idiot."

"Yes, you were an idiot." Cole agreed.

"Wow, thanks, Cole." Jay rolled his eyes.

"So does this mean you'll get back together with her?" Cole asked excitedly.

"I would but then there's the whole thing with Ben," Jay remembered.

"Right. I forgot about that." Cole sighed, "When I go back to the Bounty, I'll speak to Kai. Hopefully, he can explain."

"I hope so." Jay smiled at his best friend.

"I'm sure everything will turn back to normal soon." Cliff interrupted, startling both of them.

A loud knock at the door made all of them jump.

"Who could that possibly be at this time in the morning?" Cliff complained as he looked through the spy hole.

"Who is it?" Cole asked.

"Oh no." Cliff gasped.

"What's wrong?" Jay frowned.

"It's Nya and some guy," Cliff replied.

"RUN!" Jay shouted as he and Cole ran halfway up the stairs so they couldn't be seen. Cliff slowly opened the door.

"Where is he?" Nya asked.

"Who's with her?" Cole whispered to Jay. Jay shrugged his shoulders.

"Where is who?" Cliff frowned.

It was lucky that Cliff was Jay's birth father. He could easily lie without being caught out. He's an actor after all.

"Jay. We know you have him here." Kai said.

"Kai." Jay and Cole whispered in unison.

"Who was that?" Nya asked, frowning.

Cole and Jay exchanged looks. Jay covered his mouth after they realised that Nya had heard them.

"Who was who?" Cliff questioned.

"I heard someone whispering," Nya responded.

"What do we do?" Jay whispered even quieter.

"I don't see why we can't talk to them. Nadakhan's out of town anyway." Cole whispered to Jay.

Jay sighed, "you're right."

"Come out, whoever you are!" Kai exclaimed.

Cole stood up and walked to the bottom of the stairs.

"Cole?" Nya and Kai questioned.

"What are you doing here?" Nya frowned.

"He's not alone..." a familiar voice spoke from upstairs.

Jay walked down the stairs slowly, coming into sight.

"J-Jay?" Nya stood there in shock.

"I'm so sorry. I was an idiot." Jay told her.

"Oh, we're doing this now? Okay." Cole joked.

"What?" Nya questioned.

"I should have never broken up with you. You were only thinking of me and I was stupid to not respect that. I'm sorry." Jay apologised.

"It's okay. It was pretty stupid of me too." Nya blushed.

Kai frowned, "Nya, you didn't sneeze."

"You're right. I didn't." She smiled at Jay.

"But we can't get back together." Jay sighed.

Nya was confused. Jay just admitted to being an idiot. He said he shouldn't have broken up with her so why can't he get back together with her? What could be wrong with him?

"Why?" She asked.

At that moment, the door knocked again. Cliff opened it, revealing the one and only Ben.

"Oh, this is a bad time..." Cole muttered under his breath.

Kai frowned. Nya spotted Ben and froze.

"Because of him," Jay replied.

"Nya?" Ben smiled.

"B-Ben?!" She exclaimed.

"I've finally found you!" He hugged her tightly.

"Um..." Kai spoke out of nowhere.

"Did you know?!" Jay shouted at Kai.

"Know that they were friends, yeah," Kai responded.

"Friends? Oh, that's funny." Jay rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we've been best friends for a while but we haven't seen each other for 9 years." Nya butted in.

"Best friends? Oh, Nya, you're so funny." Ben laughed.

"I am?" She asked, confused.

Jay knew that she was just trying to cover it up. She'll probably want to be alone with him at some point and go behind Jay's back if he got back together with her. That's why he can't.

"We've been dating for 11 years, remember?" Ben smiled.

Nya's eyes grew wider. A shocked and confused expression came on her face and she went to face Jay, who was now sat on one of the steps, arms crossed. Kai also looked shocked.

"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight. You've been dating Ben this whole time and then you date Jay and pretend you love him?!" Kai explained.

"No!" Nya exclaimed.

"Dating Jay? What is he talking about?" Ben asked.

"Look, Ben, you've got it all wrong," Nya told him.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Ben's eyes filled with tears.

Kai rolled his eyes and sat next to Jay.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jay whispered to Kai.

"I didn't know they were still dating," Kai whispered back.

"I broke up with you over 9 years ago!" Nya shouted.

"You did?" Ben exclaimed.

"Yes! Don't you remember?" Nya asked, "Look, Ben. You're a nice guy but I don't have feelings for you anymore. I like Jay."

"Fine. Break up with me. But you've made a mistake. A huge mistake and you will pay for it." He stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him, startling everyone.

Nya sighed, "Jay, I honestly broke up with him before I met you. I promise. I have always loved you."

Jay uncrossed his arms, "and I've always loved you."

"But what is Ben going to do?" Cole spoke up.

"Nah, he won't do anything. He's too weak and lazy." Kai joked.

"There's no need to be mean, Kai." Cole laughed.

"Says the person who's laughing." Kai laughed along.

Nya looked at Jay, who was now, also, laughing.

"Why didn't you message me?" Nya asked Jay, catching everyone's attention.

"I couldn't. It's Nadakhan's fault. He told me that if I made any contact with you then he'd kill everyone I loved or cared about right in front of me." Jay explained.

"What?!" Kai exclaimed.

Nya stood there in shock.

"You never told me that!" Cole added.

"I didn't want to worry you." Jay sighed.

"Well, where is he now? Is he watching us, planning his revenge?" Nya began to panic.

"No, he's out of town," Cole told her.

"Are you sure?" She questioned.

"One hundred per cent."

Nya breathed a sigh of relief.

She was overjoyed to have found Jay. That's all she wanted. And the best thing was, she hadn't sneezed.


	15. Settle this like grown ups

Jay awoke from his comfy bed, peering over at a sleeping Cole. He gave a little grin as he heard his deep snores. You could hear them for miles.

A small dinging noise came from Jay's mobile, which leads on the dresser beside his bed. He picked it up and read the message.

'You gotta get Cole outta there. Nadakhan's on his way back soon.'

It was Kai. Jay let out a small gasp as he typed his reply.

'How long do we have?'

He waited for Kai's reply. Looking back over at Cole, Jay felt bad. Awaking Cole would make him feel guilty. Plus, he looked so peaceful.

As Jay was getting lost in his thoughts, Cole began to stretch his arms out and yawned.

"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead." Jay laughed whilst Cole slowly opened his sleepy eyes.

"What time is it?" Cole groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"6:30 am." Jay responded, smirking.

Cole flopped back down and moaned, "One more hour, please."

Jay laughed, "No we gotta get you outta here. Nadakhan's coming back today and I know for a fact that he'll be coming to check on me."

He sighed, "you're right."

Downstairs, Nya was preparing a surprise breakfast for Jay and Cole. Jay had been through a lot recently so Nya decided to head to Cliff's house early in the morning and make them pancakes, Jay's favourite food.

Cliff wandered into the kitchen.

"They're awake. You better finish up this breakfast and fast." Cliff told her. Nya's eyes widened. She didn't expect them to be up so early.

Within a matter of seconds, two pairs of footsteps were heard thundering down the stairs.

"Don't worry about it. They won't be expecting me anyway." Nya winked.

"Yeah and he'll be like 'use your three wishes, Jay' and you'll be like 'Nah'." Cole joked.

Jay began laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. He face planted the floor, crying with laughter.

"I don't get why that was so funny but okay." Cole laughed too.

Jay managed to calm down and they both headed into the kitchen, startled.

"Nya?" Cole frowned.

"What are you doing here so early?" Jay asked.

"I thought I'd make you a surprise breakfast. You've been through a lot so you know." Nya smiled at Jay.

Jay fake-smiled back. Things still weren't the same. They may have made up the day before but there was only more to learn. Plus, Jay and Nya had known each other for years and she never mentioned anybody called Ben.

Even though he desperately wanted to, getting back together wasn't the right thing to do. After all, she did lie to him in the first place, right?

"Oh my goodness! This looks amazing!!! Right, Jay?" Cole elbowed his best friend.

"Yeah." Jay nodded in agreement.

Nya's smile was huge. All she wanted was to win Jay over and get back together with the only guy she ever loved.

"Jay, can I talk to you for a minute?" Nya took off her apron.

Jay looked at Cole, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure."

Nya quietly lead Jay into the living room. She sat down on the large sofa and stared Jay in the eyes.

"I am so, so, so sorry for everything. From when I lied to you up to now. I have been so horrible and I shouldn't have. I am so sorry." Nya pleaded.

"It's fine, Nya. Don't worry about it." Jay fake-smiled again.

"I-I love you." She stood up, taking his hands in hers.

Jay didn't know what to do. Was he ready to get back with her? Was he even ready to tell her that he loved her too? Was he ready for heartbreak all over again?

Jay said nothing. He just looked her in the eyes, unsure of what to say.

"Don't just leave me hanging. Tell me you love me too." She hit his arm playfully but not even a grin spread across his face.

"I don't want to lie to you." Jay sighed.

Nya took her hands in his once again. Looking at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in the eyes, Jay felt complete again. But it wasn't the right kind of feeling.

"Jay, please. I never meant to hurt you. You are the only person I have ever loved. Forget about Ben." She told him.

Jay stepped back, "But I can't forget, Nya. It's not that easy."

"We'll get through anything that's thrown at us; together." She argued.

Jay fell silent.

Little did they know, Cliff and Cole were peering their heads from behind the door, spying on their every movement.

"You are the only thing I ever wanted," Nya spoke softly.

"Couples don't lie to each other," Jay shouted.

Jay sighed and sat down on the comfy white sofa. He buried his head in his hands.

Nya looked up and spotted Cole and Cliff. They signalised her to talk to and comfort him. She, too, sighed and sat beside him.

"Jay, I know you don't want to hear this but you are the most amazing person I have ever met. You are so kind, caring, honest and funny. I can't live without you." She explained.

"I don't want to hear it." He mumbled.

"I know what I did was wrong but—" She began but was interrupted.

"Of course it was wrong!" Jay exclaimed, removing his hands.

She said nothing for the next few minutes. She then rolled her eyes and stood up, facing the blue ninja.

"Stand up." She demanded.

"Why?" He frowned.

"Just do it. Stand opposite me."

He did just that. Of course, he was confused but he was kind of intrigued.

"We are going to settle this like grown-ups." She crossed her arms.

Jay raised an eyebrow whilst Cliff and Cole exchanged looks.

"What do you think she's doing?" Cliff whispered.

"I have no idea," Cole replied.

Nya looked Jay in the eyes once again.

"I'm sorry." She repeated.

He just stood there. So did she. A few minutes passed and they had gotten lost in each other's eyes. Nya placed her hands on his freckled cheeks and leaned in, closing the gap between their lips.

It felt good but Jay wasn't happy. He pushed her away and couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"I know where I'm not wanted." She stormed off and left the house, without saying a word to Cliff or Cole.

Cole's phone dinged, a text message from Kai.

'Nadakhan's heading over there now! Get out!!!!!'

"I seriously gotta go! Nadakhan's coming. Talk to you when I can, Jay." Cole waved goodbye, "Love you buddy."

"Love you too." Jay sighed as he heard the front door close behind his best friend.

That was it. He was all alone now.

"You did the right thing." Cliff placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I just hope that Nadakhan doesn't find out they were here." Jay sighed.

All of a sudden, an orange cloud appeared in front of the two, revealing the evil djin himself. He was not his usual grinning self. Instead, he looked mad.

"I know exactly who was here." He crossed his arms.

**Meanwhile...**

Nya and Cole had just arrived home. Nya didn't greet anyone and ignored her brother when he asked if she was okay, obviously noticing that something was wrong.

She stormed off to their shared bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

"What happened?" Kai asked Cole as he walked in.

"Nya tried to talk to Jay but he was having none of it," Cole explained.

"Is that it?" Kai frowned.

Zane wandered into the room, looking quite worried.

"Nya's crying. I asked her what was bothering her but she told me to go away." Zane told them.

Everyone looked at Cole, knowing that he knew what was wrong. Yes, Cole knew but was telling everyone Jay and Nya's private 'conversations' really fair?

"Come on, Cole. You know you can't keep it a secret from us. We're bound to find out from Nya anyways." Lloyd moaned. Cole rolled his eyes. Keeping secrets and feelings from the other members of the team was never easy. Although, both Jay and Cole did so very well. Nya often noticed that Jay was not himself and did beg to talk to him. Cole did spy on them a few times, in which he heard Jay in tears once. He never questioned him on it because he knew that Jay would be mad if he knew that Cole was eavesdropping. But it did bother him that his best friend never told him what was up.

It bothered Cole sometimes that he knew that Jay kept his feelings from him although they were best friends. To him, being best friends meant that you told each other everything, except for this friendship, it was quite the opposite. Jay never told Cole anything. Sure, they would hang out and share stuff but they never told each other secrets or their feelings, which bothered him very much. At one time, Cole nearly confronted Jay about it but changed his mind. They were quite close at the moment, he didn't want to ruin it.

He sighed, "Nya kissed Jay but he pushed her away."

Kai stood up, in shock and partly in anger. Zane and Lloyd exchanged looks.

"He pushed her away? That isn't like Jay." Zane frowned.

"Yeah, are you telling us the truth?" Lloyd narrowed his eyes.

Cole nodded quickly. Kai began to grit his teeth, trying to hide his clear anger.

"He broke my sister's heart. I am going to march over there and teach him a lesson!" Kai headed for the door but Cole grabbed him just in time.

"Jay is the one hurting right now, Kai! It's Nya's fault." Cole shouted.

"But Nya told us that they made up yesterday." Zane pointed out.

"They did but Nya never told Jay about--" Cole froze as he realised what he was saying. He quickly covered his mouth, hoping that the others didn't hear that last part and wouldn't question him; he was wrong.

"About what?" Lloyd frowned.

"What could have possibly made Jay so mad at Nya that he would reject a kiss?" Kai asked.

Cole thought for a second. This was their privacy. Even though Kai knew about Ben, Zane and Lloyd didn't and he knew for a fact that they would question who he was.

"Ben." Cole blurted out.

Kai's eyes widened as he fell silent.

Zane and Lloyd frowned.

"Who?" They asked in unison.

"I don't know him but Kai does. Ask Kai." Cole glared at him.

"I thought that Nya had told him!" Kai exclaimed.

"Well instead of telling Jay, she was still dating Ben behind his back." Cole crossed his arms.

"What?! I honestly had no idea that they were still going out! She only told me that she broke up with him before I became a ninja." Kai explained.

Nya was Kai's sister. And the others knew for a fact that Kai would do anything to back up his sister. He could be lying about anything to do with her.

The question was, could Cole trust him?

**At Cliff's House**

"Y-you do?" Jay questioned, shakily.

"Nya and Cole." Nadakhan pointed out.

Jay completely froze. Nadakhan knew that he had come into contact with his friends and now he was going to make him pay. Just like he had promised, Nadakhan would kill everybody he ever loved or cared about right in front of him. To make him suffer. To make him suffer for doing his job. For protecting his home. His friends. His family. All gone... That would kill Jay. He had already been through a lot because of Nadakhan, including the torture on Misfortune's Keep. After that, Jay could barely move. He was in so much pain that he wanted to end his life. To give up. But he kept going, for his friends and family. If Nadakhan was going to murder them in front of his very own eyes, he'd have nothing left to live for. He'd be all alone, something he was always afraid of ever since the events of Skybound.

"You weren't here. How do you know if they were here?" Cliff tried to back up his son.

"A little birdy told me." Nadakhan grinned.

"Birds don't talk." Cliff stupidly pointed out the obvious.

"It was somebody who hates Jay. A recent hater." The djin rolled his eyes.

Jay and Cliff looked at each other, "Ben."

"Just so you know, I have him. Just like I'm going to get your friends. I already have your family." Nadakhan disappeared into thin air and Jay knew exactly where he was going.

"What are we going to do now?! He already has my parents and now he's going to get my teammates?! Ninjago is doomed! I can't be here alone!" Jay began to freak out.

"You'll figure something out. You always do." Cliff reassured him.

"But this is different! Aren't you the slightest bit worried? HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!" Jay screamed.

"It will be fine. I'm sure he's not going to kill us in front of you. That's cruel." Cliff argued.

"But you haven't got any idea of what he did to me in the past. That may have been nowhere near as bad as this but he seems pretty convinced that he's going to make me pay. I'm starting to think that I should just give up." Jay sighed.

"What do you mean?" Cliff frowned.

"Maybe Ninjago will be better off without me. I mean, Nadakhan would leave it alone and there would be more than one helpless ninja to look after it." Jay explained.

"Jay, you aren't useless. You are so brave. You are the bravest person I know." Cliff told him.

"You haven't met the rest of Ninjago. Even the stupid mailman is more helpful than me!" Jay shouted, "I'd be better off dead!"

"Jay Walker, don't you DARE think like that! You are one of the luckiest people in the world. I know you've been through a lot but you can do this! You are one of Ninjago's greatest role models. Everybody looks up to you. Even if you are Ninjago's last hope, you can show the world that you are amazing and you stand up for what's right because that's your job and that's what people care about. Yes, you've probably been through the most in the whole of Ninjago but you have been able to face your fears and fight whatever is thrown at you. Why? Because you are a ninja. A fantastic ninja. So don't think for a second that you aren't loved because you are. Kai, Lloyd and Zane love you. Your parents love you. Cole loves you. Nya loves you. I love you."

Jay fell silent. His very own father has told him off. Sure, Ed always had a shout here and there but it was never like this. It made him feel important and wanted, which he was. All thanks to Cliff. He had nothing to say anymore. He didn't know what to say.

"Look, just remember that you aren't alone. I'm here for you and I will back you up no matter what because I am your father. You may not have grown up with me. I may not have raised you. But ever since I found out that you were a ninja, I felt so proud. From the moment I turned on my TV and saw the name Jay Walker, the master of lightning and your big smile on the screen, I never felt better. I've been tuning in to the news every single day to see your achievements and I'm glad I did. I have never been more proud of anyone." Cliff continued.

Jay smiled a little. Cliff's row made him feel better. A lot better. Jay was Ninjago's last hope and Jay was going to protect his home whether it meant he had to do it alone or not because he was a ninja. It was his job and he loved his job. So no matter what happened, Ninjago would still have Jay and he wasn't going to give up.


	16. Now it kicks off

**At Nadakhan's base**

Nadakhan appeared in one of the cells with the blue ninja who was pretty confident on stopping him. He didn't have a plan yet but he was beginning to get a rough idea.

"You stay here. In the next cell, I have your friends and in the other cell next to that is your parent including Cliff and Sabrina." Nadakhan explained, "and don't even think about escaping. This cell is made of the toughest material you can get. It was hard to find too. I'll come back to you later for your little 'session'."

He then disappeared into an orange ball of smoke before Jay could argue. The blue ninja sighed, thinking he was alone but he wasn't...

"Looks like we're cellmates. " A voice spoke from behind him. This startled Jay as he spun around to find someone familiar. It was the little birdy himself, Ben.

"So." Jay growled, "So you were the one who tattled."

"Yep. That was me. Look, I love Nya. If I get you out the way, she'll be mine. And I won't have to worry about people like you." He explained.

Jay rolled his eyes, "She doesn't like you anymore."

"How do you know?" Ben frowned.

"Because she kissed me." He smirked.

Ben jumped up off of the dark and damp flooring. Why it is was damp was unknown. He moved towards Jay, hoping to intimidate him. It wasn't working.

"And why would she kiss someone like you?" Ben narrowed his eyes.

"I'll tell you using her very own words because she loves me," Jay responded.

"What did you do when she kissed you?" He asked.

"I pushed her away." Jay sighed.

"Why would you push her away?! I wouldn't have done that." Ben exclaimed.

"Let's just say what she did to me was wrong." Jay replied, "Look, if we're going to share a cell, I want us to get along. What do you say, start over?"

Ben thought for a moment. He never imagined himself being friends with Nya's new lover whether they were together or not. But maybe it wasn't such a bad idea starting over.

"Fine." Ben sat down in his usual spot, where he was when Jay had arrived. The blue ninja sat down on the opposite side of the room, leaning his back against the dark wall.

For hours they spoke and not a single argument came up. They were getting on quite well. They spoke about comics, what it was like to be a ninja and quite a lot of games and movies.

"You know, Jay, you aren't a bad guy. You're quite the opposite." Ben smiled.

"I could say the same about you." Jay agreed.

"But back to the Nya subject, why did you reject her kiss anyway?" Ben asked sweetly.

Jay took a deep breath, getting ready to tell Ben the truth.

"So it all started when she went to the doctors to see about an illness. They told her it was an allergy but she lied to me and said that it was just hay fever. The allergy was to the element lightning, my element." He began.

"Why would she lie to you about it?" Ben frowned.

"Because the doctor told her to stay away from whoever had that element for a certain amount of time. She then took it upon herself to ignore that, potentially risking her life just to make me happy. I then broke up with her for lying to me and risking her life." Jay replied.

"That's it?" Ben questioned.

"No, it doesn't stop there. Once you came looking for Nya and saying that she was your girlfriend I didn't know what to think. Of course, I believed it because she never told me about you. She never even mentioned your name. Then she saw you and told you that she 'broke up' with you. But she could have been lying seeing as in I was there. Then we made up but I was still very clearly upset with her. The next day, she wanted to talk to me. She told me that she still loved me very much and wanted to forget about what happened. She kissed me but I pushed her away." He continued to explain.

Ben frowned, "She did deserve that. What she did was wrong but you have to understand that she likes you. And you're a great guy, Jay. I'm sure you two would be perfect together."

"But I thought you want to be with her," Jay questioned.

"I do but we had our awkward moments. I sometimes thought that maybe she didn't like me in that way anymore. Guess I was right. I do kinda remember something about her breaking up with me. I was probably half asleep at the time." Ben told him, "But my point is, you should forgive her. You two sound like you get along very well and you both love each other. You shouldn't let this go to waste."

Jay sighed, "maybe you're right. I was quite harsh on her. But I doubt she'll take me back now."

"She's probably hating herself more than she hates you right now," Ben suggested.

"She was pretty convincing." Jay laughed, "But its too late now. In a few hours, I'll have to pay for getting rid of Nadakhan the first time. He's going to kill everyone I love. Including Nya."

"He is?! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Ben exclaimed.

"I don't even have a plan. If he does kill them, I'll be all Ninjago has left. I can't protect it by myself." Jay added.

"Well, I'll join your team." He joked, "But in all seriousness if he's going to kill them in front of you to make you suffer, he won't kill them if you aren't there."

"You mean to escape?" Jay asked.

"Yeah. You could even save your friends and family and get them outta here." Ben told him.

Jay sighed, "it's too risky getting myself out of here left alone the others. If I was really lucky I would be able to get the team out but not my parents."

"At least you grew up with parents," Ben mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Jay frowned.

"I've been an orphan my whole life. I never knew my parents." Ben replied.

Unlike Ben, Jay was adopted and was raised by someone responsible. Even though Jay didn't know his birth parents until now, he still had someone there for him. Ben grew up in an orphanage, which was worse than a junkyard, with no friends. He spent all his years learning how to read and write by himself. He had nobody to tell his secrets or feelings to. He couldn't trust anyone. Childhood was quite similar for Jay too. Jay went to school for quite a few years. He, too, had no friends. Instead, he was bullied, not only for living in a junkyard but for being who he was. That was why he was so strict and serious when he became a ninja. Nya taught him that it was okay to be himself, in which he started to loosen up again, making him who he was today.

"I'm sorry, Ben. I had no idea." Jay apologised.

"It's okay. But if you want to save your friends and family, escaping would be an only option." Ben told him.

Jay thought for a second. If he left, the others might think that he abandoned them instead of saving them but he could also save them from death. He knew what the right thing was and he was determined to do it.

"I'll leave tonight."

**In the ninjas' cell**

Kai, Zane and Lloyd had no idea what was going on and why they were locked up in a cell. Cole badly wanted to explain to them what was happening but they wouldn't focus. Nya was sat in the corner of the room, curled up in a ball, silent.

"Guys, if you shut up I'll tell you what's happening!" Cole yelled. This startled everyone, who was now as quiet as mice.

"Go ahead," Zane told him, also speaking for the others.

Cole took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be good news to them.

"When Nadakhan took Jay to Cliff, he gave them specific instructions that if Jay makes any contact with us, he'd kill everyone that Jay ever loved/loves right in front of him," Cole explained.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!" Kai shouted as he ran around the cell.

"Kai, we aren't going to die. I'm sure Jay has a plan. I hope that Jay has a plan. He has a plan, doesn't he?" Lloyd asked.

"I'm not sure but he probably does. There is no way that he is going to let Nadakhan kill us." Cole replied.

"Where is he?" Zane wondered.

"He's in the next cell. There's no way of contacting him though so we can't figure out the plan. We're just going to have to go with whatever happens." Cole told them.

"WE COULD DIE!" Kai exclaimed.

"Shut up, Kai!!" Nya yelled, startling them. Everyone looked at the heart-broken teenage girl in the corner. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. The guys exchanged looks.

"Go talk to her, Cole," Kai whispered.

"Me?!" Cole whisper-shouted back, "She's your sister."

Kai groaned softly and wandered over to his little sister. He knelt next to her and removed her head from her hands.

Her cheeks were covered with tears. Kai felt bad. Sure, he'd seen her cry multiple times in the past but never like this. She was really upset.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked, softly.

"I miss Jay." She sobbed.

Another water droplet fell from her crystal blue eyes. Kai wiped it away and sighed.

"We all do but tell me what is wrong." He demanded.

"I miss us. Us being together. I miss him being here with me. I miss our hang out times. I miss the times when we used to watch sad romance movies. I miss the nights where we would accidentally fall asleep on the sofa, cuddling. I miss our dates. I miss our kisses. I miss his laugh and smile. I MISS HIM!!!" She explained as she began to cry again. Once again, her head was in her hands.

Kai looked over at the others, hoping for help. He didn't know what to say. Not only was Nya never in this state but Kai never spoke to her about who she was dating or who she liked. It wasn't an awkward conversation but he never really knew what to say. He didn't want the day to come when a guy would break her heart and she would come to him for support. But it's here now and it was his responsibility to keep her happy.

"Look, Nya, I know you're hurting right now but crying about it isn't going to help," Kai told her.

"Kai?!" Cole exclaimed.

"Jay is probably more hurt than you right now. Just think of everything he's been through. Maybe just a little support would have helped him but instead all you were thinking about was yourself. And look at you now. You were so wrapped up in yourself that you didn't even care about how he felt." Kai continued.

"What is he doing?!" Cole whispered.

"Tough love," Zane replied.

"I care about him more than I care about myself. I risked my own life just to make him happy for goodness sake!" Nya exclaimed.

"Good. Tell him how much you love and care for him!" Kai suggested.

"I tried that but it only pushed us further apart. Literally." Nya sighed.

"Then you need to show him instead of crying about it. He's been through a lot of pain Nya but do you see him crying about it?" Kai wondered.

"No..." She replied.

"Exactly. He stays positive. And remember when you had to choose between him and Cole? There were so many times that you showed no interest in him whatsoever. You seemed to hate him at points but he never gave up no matter what. Maybe you should take that into account. I bet you never noticed that did you?" Kai added.

"N-no."

"See my point. You need to prove yourself and you might have a choice. I know for a fact that he still loves you and he's suffering too. Just show him that you truly love him." Kai told her.

"But its too late now. The next and last time I get to see him is when our lives come to an end, Kai. I won't have time. Plus, he seems pretty certain that we aren't getting back together so why would he change his mind now?" Nya questioned.

Kai's talk did something. She didn't cry again. Instead, she tried to think of a way to win Jay back whether they only had a few hours or not. She just needed to get to him. Tough love does work.

**In the other cell**

"Cliff?" Edna spoke up, hoping to catch the actor's attention. It did.

"Ed? Edna? Oh, how glad I am to see you! I thought I was going to have to share a cell with some complete weirdo. Although, Jay isn't that bad to live with. He's quite a nice kid." Cliff laughed.

Ed and Edna exchanged looks.

"Jay? What do you mean he isn't that bad to live with?" Ed frowned.

"Wait, you don't know..." Cliff facepalmed. He may have given away Jay's private knowings.

"Jay knows?!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Nadakhan told him a few years ago. Nadakhan found him about a week ago and sent him to me. He said that he wasn't allowed to come into contact with any of his friends or family or the evil djin himself would kill everyone he ever loved right in front of his eyes." Cliff explained.

"What?!" Ed shouted.

"I don't want to die." Edna cried.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, sweetheart." Ed told her, "but where is Sabrina?"

"Uh...Sabrina wouldn't be here, remember? It would be Libber but Nadakhan doesn't know where she is." Cliff reminded them.

"Ah yes," Ed replied.

"Does that mean that Jay's brother would be here then even if he doesn't know him?" Edna questioned.

"Yes. He is."


	17. Now or never

**At the ninjas' cell**

The team was sat on the floor playing cards to pass the time. Nya was joining in too although she secretly wanted to be alone. Nadakhan appeared out of nowhere, startling them all.

"You scared us." Lloyd pointed out.

"At least I know I'm doing my job." Nadakhan smirked, "It's time."

Kai looked over at Nya as if to say, 'it's now or never'. Nya took a deep breath as they all followed behind Nadakhan.

As they headed up to the main deck, they were getting nervous. None of them were certain that Jay had a plan. Their job was to just go with whatever happened.

Nadakhan forced them into separate seats, all in a row. They were strapped up, unable to move. Whatever was going to happen, they couldn't escape. All hope relied on Jay now. Nadakhan went back to where the cells were and didn't come back ASAP.

"Oh, Nya, how lovely it is to see you again," Edna spoke up.

Suddenly, a scream from Nadakhan was heard, which frightened all of them.

"What happened?" Cole asked, startled.

"I have no idea," Nya replied.

"Maybe it's part of Jay's plan?" Cliff suggested.

"I don't think so..." Zane frowned.

Nadakhan reappeared in front of them looking quite angry and confused.

"So here's the thing... um... so Jay has escaped..." Nadakhan began.

The others all exchanged looks but Nya just froze on the spot.

"Whilst I try and hunt him down, I'm going to let you go for now but as soon as I find him, I'm coming back for you." Nadakhan clapped his hands and they all appeared at the bounty.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. What just happened?!" Kai exclaimed.

"Jay escaped..." Cliff murmured.

"But why?" Lloyd frowned.

"I can't believe he'd just leave like that!" Nya exclaimed. "I thought he cared about us. We could have been killed and he just left anyway. How could he be so selfish?!"

"No! It's not like that." Ben spoke in.

Nobody noticed that he was there so it certainly did give them a little fright.

"Ben? Why did Nadakhan have you?" Kai asked.

"Wait..." Cole narrowed his eyes, "You were the one who told Nadakhan that Nya and I were with Jay!"

"Well done, smartypants, you figured it out." Ben rolled his eyes."

"Why would you do that? You're putting so many lives at risk." Nya shouted.

"I didn't know that at the time did I?! Well I only found out because Jay told me," Ben told them.

"You've spoken with Jay?" Edna questioned.

"Yes, I shared a cell with him. We started over. My point is, I know why he left. It was my idea." Ben responded.

"Your idea?! Of course, it was. Jay would never have done something so selfish!" Nya exclaimed.

"Selfish? No!" Ben argued.

"He just left us here to die. You don't think that's selfish?" Kai frowned.

"He didn't leave you here to die. He knew that Nadakhan wanted him to suffer so if Jay escaped and ran away as far as possible, Nadakhan wouldn't kill you." Ben explained.

"So he was caring for us instead?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes. He was. And he was potentially risking his life by escaping." Ben added.

"Just like how I risked my life to make him happy." Nya pointed out.

"He's repaying you," Cliff suggested.

This made Nya smile a little. Maybe this was his sorry.

**Meanwhile...**

Jay had been travelling for a while. He barely escaped but he knew for a fact that Nadakhan hadn't killed his friends and family. He also knew that Nadakhan wasn't going to let him go that easily. He was going to hunt him down so Jay had to get as far away as possible to buy himself time. Maybe he could even steal the Realm Crystal and travel to a new realm. Nadakhan wouldn't even think about looking there. It may be too risky though.

After a few hours of walking, Jay eventually came into the part of Ninjago that he didn't recognise. Somewhere he had possibly never been before. There was a small village out in the middle of nowhere. He didn't remember seeing it before.

As he approached, a small woman wandered over to him.

"What is such a young boy like you doing out here?" She asked.

"There's this bad guy after me and he wants to kill my friends. I had to escape." Jay explained. "What is this place?"

"You've entered the part of Ninjago that barely anyone knows. Welcome." She greeted him as she directed him towards the entrance of the village.

"It's such a lovely place here. It seems so peaceful." Jay smiled. It reminded him of Ninjago City when there wasn't a villain trying to take over.

"How long do you think you plan on staying?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. How often do people visit here?" He wondered.

"Never. You're the first person in seventeen years." She told him.

Seventeen years?! That's crazy, Jay thought to himself. That was as old as him. It seemed like a decent place to hide out though.

"As long as possible." He replied.

"No problem." She smiled at him and she directed him to a much taller, blonde lady with bright blue eyes, quite a similar colour to Jay's.

The lady smiled at the two as she turned to see them.

"Libber, we have a new member to the team!" The woman smiled.

"Oh great!" Libber smiled back.

Suddenly a scream was heard from a fellow villager.

Jay and Libber headed over to where the scream had come from, only to find quite a large spider.

"SPIDER!" The villager screamed.

"What do we do?" Libber asked Jay.

"I know exactly what to do," Jay smirked.

Remembering how the Tiger Widow had hated it, Jay shot lightning bolts from his palms, startling Libber as he did so.

The spider squealed and scurried away quickly.

The surrounding villagers crowded around Jay, cheering. Jay smiled and wandered off, Libber followed behind him.

"Hey, wait up!" She called out. This caught his attention as he turned around.

"How do you have those powers?" She wondered.

"I inherited my powers from my mother, Sabrina," Jay told her.

"Wait, Sabrina? You didn't inherit them from her! She doesn't have lightning powers!" Libber exclaimed.

"How do you know?! Jay asked.

"I'm her sister. And I have those powers. You inherited them from me." Libber told him.

"What?! But Cliff told me that Sabrina was my mother." Jay argued.

"He hasn't told you the truth." Libber sighed.

"The truth?" Jay frowned, "What's the truth?"

Libber took a deep breath and began, "Before you were born, Cliff was with Sabrina. He had a child with her. Sabrina never had lightning powers so that child never inherited powers. A year later, I married Cliff and I got pregnant. And that child would be... you."

"Me?" Jay questioned, "But that doesn't make sense."

"No, the way you were told is not correct." Libber corrected him.

"But Cliff and Sabrina were arguing about me. I heard them. They mentioned the junkyard too." Jay told her.

"They lied so you wouldn't find out about me or your brother."

"My brother?" Jay asked, confused.

"Cliff had another child, remember? That would make him your brother." Libber reminded him.

"I-I guess it would... I've never had a sibling before. Do you know a name?" Jay wondered.

"No, I don't, sorry," Libber responded.

He couldn't believe it. He had an older brother. His whole life he thought that he was an only child and was born in a junkyard when he was born in a hospital and had a brother. That was something that Jay never expected to hear. And not to mention Cliff had lied to him. But Jay's brother was out there somewhere and he was determined to find him.

"So you're my mother?" Jay questioned.

Libber nodded. She never wanted her son to find out who she was but she hated lies being spread around. She used to be a ninja, and as she was told growing up, ninjas don't lie. Except in Jay's case, they did.

The old woman that helped Jay before ran over to the two looking a little worried.

"There's something on the TV, you might want to come and see." She told them.

Jay and Libber exchanged looks before heading over to one of the many TV screens in the village. There, on the screen, was a picture of Jay.

"Why are you on the news?" Libber asked.

Jay didn't reply. He was too fascinated by the TV. Next, a video clip played showing Nadakhan, the evil djin himself.

"I don't know where you are, lightning ninja, but you will regret escaping my grasp. I will find you and I will kill your friends and family. I will make you pay for destroying my home. You will be all that Ninjago has left. You will not win, Jay Walker." Nadakhan threatened.

The old woman switched off the TV.

"You can stay here for as long as you need. You need to be protected otherwise Ninjago will be at risk." She told him.

"Thank you. I just need to hide out for as long as possible." Jay replied.

"He can stay with me," Libber spoke up.

The woman wandered off, leaving them alone once again.

"So he's after you?" Libber sighed.

"Why have you gone quiet? Do you know him?" Jay asked.

Libber sighed and sat down on a nearby bench.

"There is only one element that can stop a djin. If he is struck by lightning, it can damage him and can kill him. That's why he wants to capture you and kill everyone you care about. He wants to weaken you so you won't even think about striking him. And that's why I had to abandon you." She began.

"Wait, I'm confused. Start from the beginning." Jay told her.

"As you know, I had you at the hospital but Nadakhan came to attack me. He found out that I had a son, obviously knowing that you would inherit my powers. He tried to kill both you and me but Cliff managed to escape with you. I took my chance to leave unexpectedly and not return, in hopes of protecting you. That must have been when Cliff had given you to Ed and Edna so they could raise you and keep you from danger." Libber explained.

"But if Cliff told them to protect me and keep me from being in danger, why did they let me become a ninja?" He frowned.

"Because they knew that you had to follow in my footsteps. Not to mention they don't decide for you, Master Wu does." She responded.

"So I was chosen? But didn't Sensei know about what happened with Nadakhan's attack?" Jay wondered.

"He knew everything because once I had gone missing, Cliff had to tell Wu that I had quit. He was so mad that I left without a word that he lied to you so you wouldn't find out about me." Libber answered.

"So he kept it from me?" Jay sighed.

"For your protection. But now that Nadakhan has found you, he won't give up. He will get you." Libber pointed out.

"But he stopped looking for you, didn't he?" Jay questioned.

"Yes but only because he wanted to find you instead. He felt like you were more important to find." She replied.

"I've been lied to my whole life by the people I love the most..." Jay mumbled.

"Who else lied to you?" Libber frowned.

"My ex, Nya. She's one of my teammates, the water ninja. She lied to me about an allergy to my element, putting her life at risk and then she kept something a secret from me. I ended up breaking up with her but I think I made a mistake. I probably won't get to see her again because of Nadakhan though." Jay explained.

"Wow, I'm sorry." Libber apologised.

What Nya did was wrong, yes, but of course Jay still loved her. She was the love of her life. There were so many times in the past where Jay should have given up on her. When she fell for Cole when she was captured by Nadakhan, her death but he always kept fighting. Of course, she got back together with him after everything they had been through but things were different now. Maybe them being apart was only pulling him closer together. It made them realise how much they need and love each other.

Both Jay and Nya wanted to get back together, all they needed was a moment alone and everything would go back to normal. Although, that wasn't so easy now that Nadakhan was in the way. He was quite a large problem.

"I want to tell Nya that I'm sorry for being an idiot and not realising how much I need her but I can't go back towards the city. It's too dangerous." Jay added.

"If you go to the city, I'll back you up. If Nadakhan tries to get you, he's going to have to get through me first. You just need to be in and out." Libber suggested.

"No! You haven't been back there in years. Plus, if he gets us both anything could happen. And its no doubt that people will ask where you've been." Jay argued.

"I want you to be happy, Jay," Libber told him.

"There it goes again! People risking their lives to make me happy! I would be happy if nobody risked their lives!" Jay exclaimed.

Libber raised an eyebrow, "So are we going to the city or not?"

Jay thought for a minute. He needed to see Nya but it was dangerous.

"Yes."


	18. Back to you

All was quiet in Ninjago City; too quiet. There was no sign of Nadakhan just yet. The people were acting normal and the ninja has returned to The Bounty. Of course, they were all on edge, taking every moment into account because Jay could be found at any moment and they could be killed. Nya and Kai were just about to leave to see their parents, possibly say goodbye too. Cole had already done so as he didn't want to waste any time. He was pretty much just chilling out now, knowing that Jay would do his hardest to stay away from the city. He knew that Jay was smart and he also knew that he didn't want to put his friends' lives at risk.

Jay was one of the most caring and lovable people that Cole knew. Sure, he was irresponsible sometimes but he knew what was best for the team. He made the team positive in serious situations even when Jay could barely be positive himself. To Cole, Jay was the most important person on the team. No, Jay couldn't make much of a leader but he was a great team member.

Cole missed Jay very much. It was so quiet, which most of the ninja were enjoying, but it was too quiet for Cole's liking. He had nothing to do except pray that Jay was okay. He didn't care about himself or his life is at risk, he just wanted his best friend back. Even a moment to thank him is all that he could ask for.

On the other side of the city was Cliff. He was at home, hoping that he didn't lose his life. He didn't feel guilty for lying to Jay but he did want to catch up with Ed and Edna. He may as well have left earlier on so he'd have a better chance to find out more about his son but he didn't waste any time whatsoever.

Ed and Edna weren't doing much better. Of course, they were worried about themselves but also worried about where Jay was. They knew he was smart but they didn't think he'd just leave without saying anything. Ed had spotted Nadakhan in the desert a few times. He was thinking that if Jay was to return, he'd come and see his parents first, but he was wrong.

Jay and Libber sprinted through the forest, into the city. They hoped that nobody would see them but only very few recognised him. Even when Dareth saw the friendly blue ninja, he couldn't help but shout out. Jay didn't have time to stop and say hi. He didn't have time for anything. The plan was to get in and out as fast as possible. At least he knew exactly where Nya was.

On the Bounty, Nya had finished packing her backpack, ready for the two-hour drive to the blacksmith's shop. If Jay wanted to see her, he needed to be quick, very quick, and make sure she didn't leave first. But he didn't know that she was leaving. There was no way of him finding out in time.

When they were just around the corner, with no sight of Nadakhan, Jay stopped.

"Wait, what if Nadakhan still has them?" He asked Libber.

At that moment, both Kai and Nya came wandering down the stairs of the Bounty, catching his attention.

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't." Libber replied, "You head over there, I'll keep an eye out for Nadakhan."

"Okay, here goes nothing." Jay took a deep breath before heading over to a nearby bush and hiding behind it.

"Ready to go?" Kai asked his sister. She nodded but before they could head off, Jay decided to make a move.

"Nya," Jay whispered, trying to get her attention.

Nya spun around to see her brother, paying no attention to her.

"What?" She questioned.

Kai looked up, frowning, "I didn't say anything."

"You said my name, didn't you?" Nya asked.

"No."

"Nya. Kai." Jay repeated.

Nya and Kai exchanged looks before Kai turned to the bush behind him.

"Is it just me or is the bush talking?" Kai asked.

"I hear it too," Nya told him.

Jay facepalmed. He moved so his head poked out from behind the large bush, frightening Kai.

"AH!" He screamed.

"It's me, Jay," Jay spoke.

"Jay?" Kai frowned, "What are you doing here?! It's too dangerous."

"Shh! I need to speak with Nya." Jay replied.

"I can't talk, we're heading to our parents' place. Plus, you shouldn't even be here. Nadakhan's hunting you down." Nya responded.

"I'll be quick, I promise." Jay pleaded.

"Well, I have been meaning to talk to you." Nya sighed.

"Just be speedy," Kai told them.

Nya followed Jay to a private spot behind the Bounty.

"Okay, you first," Jay said.

"I know you don't want to hear this but you have no idea how sorry I am. Jay, I miss you so much. I can't live without you." Nya began.

"I know! That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Jay stopped her.

"It is?" Nya frowned.

"I was an idiot. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I made a mistake. Ben helped me to realise how lucky I am to have you in my life." Jay explained.

"Ben?" Nya questioned, confused and shocked.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot and I understand if you hate me now it's just--" Jay began to ramble but Nya stopped him.

"You aren't an idiot." Nya smiled, sweetly. "I was the idiot. I should have never lied to you or kept Ben a secret. Honestly, I did want to tell you but I didn't want you to worry or get jealous. I know what you can get like. You find out about a guy I used to like or used to be friends with and you'd ask multiple times."

"I guess that's kinda annoying." Jay giggled a little.

"My point is, we were both idiots." Nya laughed.

Jay took Nya's hands in his.

"I'm sorry, Nya. I still love you. I have always loved you." Jay told her.

"And I have always loved you." Nya smiled. Jay smiled back.

Libber ran into their private area and interrupted.

"Nadakhan's nearby. We gotta get out of here, Jay." Libber warned.

Nya began to panic.

"It's okay, don't panic. I'll get out of here without being spotted, I promise. I won't let him hurt you." Jay told her.

She nodded, "Just be careful, okay. I don't want to lose you."

"And I don't want to lose you," Jay replied.

"When will I see you next?" Nya wondered.

Jay sighed.

He knew that the only safe thing to do was to stay in that village. Of course, he would miss Nya and everyone back home but it was for his safety. Putting their lives at risk was not fair.

"I found somewhere safe to hide. I can't come back, Nya." Jay answered.

"You can't come back?" A tear began to form in her eye.

"Look, just because I'll be like one hundred miles away doesn't mean I don't love you." He took something out of his pocket and placed it in Nya's hand.

"What is this?" Nya frowned.

"It's my lucky necklace. It's a blue lightning bolt, it will remind you of me. Take it and keep it safe, for me." Jay lightly kissed her cheek.

"Come on, he's near, we gotta go," Libber repeated.

"I love you, Jay." A tear fell from her eye.

"I love you too, Nya." He waved goodbye as he and Libber ran off into the distance, hoping not to be seen by the djin.

"I'm gonna miss her." Jay sighed as they ran.

"It's gonna be okay. If everything goes well, you might get to see her again." Libber told him.

"The next time I see her, I could be attending her funeral." Jay facepalmed.

Libber rolled her eyes, "don't think like that. Let's just focus on getting you to safety."


	19. Eagles

One very long week had passed and multiple stories about Nadakhan's actions had been on the news, which kept Jay and the village up to date. Jay had told all the villagers what had happened starting from the beginning. They had come up with a plan to back Jay up and help him get away if Nadakhan ever found the village, which was quite unlikely.

Jay at down on a bench and sighed. It had been a long week. First, he got captured by Nadakhan, nearly had his friends and family murdered, and escaped. Then Jay found the village and found out the truth behind his parentage. And last but not least, Jay had said goodbye to Nya, the love of his life, and given her his most important possession; his necklace. On one hand, he had protected it ever since he was two and never let it out of sight but on the other hand, he was glad that he gave it to Nya. After all, she needed it more than he did.

Libber approached her son and sat beside him. Jay leaned into her, putting the side of his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his neck and sighed.

"It's been a long week." She spoke.

"I know. A looooooooooong week. It feels like it's been forever since I saw Nya and Cole. I miss them. I miss everyone." Jay agreed.

"At least you know that they are safe," Libber told him.

"For now. What if Nadakhan finds me?" Jay raised his head and looked at his mother in her bright blue eyes.

"We have a plan, you know that." Libber rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to seem rude or anything but I don't think a few villagers will stop a djin," Jay answered back.

"But with my help?" She smirked.

"No, you can't stay here if he comes. He's after me, and if he finds you I don't know what he's going to do. I can't lose you too. You're all that I have left." Jay argued.

"Well I assure you, Nadakhan won't find us here," Libber replied.

The same old woman from before came sprinting towards Jay and Libber, startling them both.

"It's Nadakhan." She said, out of breath, "He's here."

Villagers around started screaming and running around in panic.

"I thought they had my back!" Jay exclaimed.

"Who cares! We gotta get out of here!" Libber interrupted.

"LOOK! THERE HE IS!" The woman pointed up at the sky.

In shock, Jay and Libber looked up to see something they weren't expecting. Libber facepalmed.

"WHY AREN'T YOU GOING?! GO BEFORE HE SEES YOU!!!!!!!!!!" She panicked.

"Um, that's not Nadakhan," Jay spoke out of the blue.

"What d'ya mean?" She frowned.

"That's an eagle." Jay giggled.

The woman glanced back up at the moving creature as it squawked.

"Oh."

Jay burst into laughter, tears dribbling down his cheeks. He could barely breathe. Libber began to laugh at Jay laughing and then the woman laughed at them both laughing. Soon enough, all three of them were dying of laughter.

"Well, at least I know the village is gonna back me up." Jay calmed down.

"Ah, yes, sorry about that. I promise that the villagers will be ready next time." She apologised and scurried off back to what she was doing.

Jay turned to his mother and sighed.

"I hope there won't be a next time."

**Back at the Bounty**

"Checkmate." Zane called out.

"Not again!" Lloyd shouted.

Kai rolled his eyes and groaned.

"I do not want to spend my last days alive listening to you two play that stupid game." The fire ninja complained.

"For the record, it makes your brain more alert, plus, it's fun," Zane argued back.

"I'd rather do something more important than wait around all day." Kai rolled his eyes.

"Then do something," Lloyd told him.

The ninja had spent the past week laying around, eating and watching TV. There was a game of chess here and there but nothing much else had happened. Nya had been a lot happier since she spoke to Jay and she hadn't taken Jay's necklace off from around her neck. She had kept it with her every day and never let it out of sight.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door.

"IT'S NADAKHAN!!!!!" Kai exclaimed and jumped behind the sofa. "He won't know I'm here if I hide."

"It's probably not Nadakhan. We all know that if he was going to come for us he'd just appear out of nowhere." Cole rolled his eyes.

"Prove me wrong," Kai whispered. Nya got up and wandered over to the door, fiddling with the necklace as she did so. As she grasped hold of the door handle, Kai let out a loud squeal.

"Open it slowly!" Kai exclaimed.

Nya, too, rolled her eyes and opened but not slowly.

Kai sprinted over to the door and held out his katana, "GET OUT OF HERE NADAKHAN!!"

He then stopped, dropped his weapon and sighed.

"Hey, Sabrina." Nya greeted her an welcomed her in. Sabrina put one foot in through the doorway and took a big sigh of relief.

"I'm guessing Jay hasn't been caught then. I saw it on the news that he escaped." Sabrina pointed out.

"Yeah, we came back about a week ago but we haven't seen or heard anything since. We have no idea where he is either." Nya explained.

Sabrina sighed. She wanted to know if her son was okay, and that's why she came to see the ninja. Maybe they knew something that she didn't.

"Hi, Ben." Sabrina waved to the familiar figure sat in the corner of the room.

"Hey, Sabrina. Nice to see you again." He smiled.

Sabrina sat down at the dining table and looked around the room.

"How have you all been then?" She wondered.

"On edge," Cole replied.

"More than on edge." Lloyd glared at Kai, who smiled sweetly like he never did anything.

"Scared?" Sabrina giggled.

"Nah, just a little terrified. I mean, it could be our last day, last moment, last week at any time." Kai told her.

Sabrina nodded as Zane frowned. Cole spotted this and decided to pick him up on it.

"What's up, Zane?" Cole asked.

"It's just that all of Jay's friends and family were at the little 'get together' yet I did not see Sabrina there," Zane explained.

"It seems I was not invited to join. Maybe Nadakhan was so excited that he forgot about me?" Sabrina suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably it." Kai jumped in.

Zane narrowed his eyes and scanned Sabrina. A sweat droplet swivelled down the side of her face but nobody seemed to notice. She was nervous about something, but what?

"That's strange." Zane frowned.

"What did you find out?" Ben joined in the conversation.

"My database says nothing about Sabrina being Jay's mother. Sabrina is Jay's aunt." Zane told them.

"What?!" Kai, Lloyd, Nya, Cole and Ben exclaimed.

"You lied?!" Lloyd added.

"But didn't Cliff say that Sabrina was his mum?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, he told him the story and everything." Nya agreed.

"Zane, are you sure you didn't get it mixed up?" Kai frowned.

"Did you mess up?" Cole wondered.

"It is not possible for a Nindroid to mess up. I am one hundred per cent correct." Zane responded.

Sabrina tried to think of an excuse or even an argument but nothing came into mind. She had finally been caught but she couldn't give anything else away.

"Fine you caught me but it was for his protection." Sabrina blurted out.

"Zane, scan her again and see if you can figure out who his real mother is," Ben told the Nindroid.

"That cannot be done. I can scan Sabrina but Jay is not here so I can't find out." Zane replied.

"It wasn't my fault. My sister was the idiot who made this happen! She didn't want her son to--" Sabrina stopped and realised what she said, "I shouldn't have said that."

"It's her sister!" Nya exclaimed.

"You'll never be able to find out who she is! She's been missing for nineteen years!" Sabrina shouted.

Zane scanned her once again, "Her name is Libber."

At that moment, Sensei Wu wandered in with his large teapot in one hand and his usual cup of tea in the other.

"Oh hi, Sabrina." Wu greeted her. He stopped and nearly choked on his tea, "Sabrina?!"

"You know her?" Kai frowned.

"Yes. She is the sister of one of the former elemental masters, Libber." Wu replied.

They all exchanged looks and began to shout over each other. This startled Wu and made him nearly choke again.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. One at a time." He told them.

"Do you have documentaries of the past elemental masters anywhere?" Lloyd wondered.

"Yes, I do. Why?" He questioned.

"Please, may we look through them?" Lloyd asked.

"Sure. They're in my second drawdown in my office." He answered.

"Thanks!" Lloyd called out to his uncle as the ninja and Ben sprinted to the office.

They ran down the corridor, burst into the room and searched for the drawers. Nya eventually found the documentaries and placed them on the desk.

"Found them!" She exclaimed. Everyone else rushed to her, out of breath.

"Look for Libber!" Kai ordered.

"I am!" She shouted back.

A few minutes later, she found the right profile and took it out to look at separately.

"Here we are. Libber Gordon." Nya told them.

"What does it say?" Ben asked.

"It says she is the master of lightning." She replied.

"That would explain Jay's powers." Cole pointed out.

"True." Nya agreed.

"Does it say anything about her family?" Ben wondered.

She scanned the paper, looking over parents, grandparents and she eventually found what they were looking for.

"Zane was right! Jay isn't Sabrina's son." Nya told them.

"What does it say exactly?" Zane asked.

"It says that Libber's son is called Jay Gordon and Sabrina is her sister. It also says who Sabrina's real son is." Nya looked at the others.

"Who?!" They all exclaimed.

Nya turned back to the paper to check and gasped.

"You aren't going to believe this..." Nya spoke.

"Who is it?!" Ben repeated.

"It's..."


	20. A brother for life

"Come on sis, quit stalling." Kai groaned.

"Yeah, who's Sabrina's kid?" Cole wondered.

"I can't believe this." Nya continued.

"Stop winding us up!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"It doesn't make sense..." She added.

"Just give it to me." Ben snatched the paper off of her. His eyes widened.

"No...way..."

"Who is it?" Kai asked.

"Are you going to tell us or not?" Zane wondered.

"I don't know if I should..." Ben frowned.

"Looks like we have to find out ourselves." Lloyd rolled his eyes and took the paper.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Lloyd looked shocked.

Kai rolled his eyes, "It can't be that bad."

He got so fed up that he, too, snatched the paper and read it for himself. He spotted what he did not expect to see...

**At the village**

Jay had finished his daily training with Libber and lead down on the freshly cut grass. He sighed and looked up at the light blue sky. It was clear, which was perfect for such a calm day as this.

Libber came and sat down beside him.

"Do you know anything about my brother?" Jay wondered.

"I never really kept in contact with my sister very much so I'm not sure, sadly." She replied, "If I knew anything, I would tell you."

"What do you know?" He asked.

"Well, you shouldn't blame her or Cliff for lying to you. It wasn't their fault. They were just trying to protect you after what happened to me. I went missing after an attack and haven't contacted them in nineteen years. I'm sure Cliff didn't want the same thing happening to you." Libber explained.

"But he could have just told me the truth in the first place. I wouldn't have been made and if he had told me to keep quiet about it, I would have. I can keep secrets. I kept seeing me and Nya in the reflection a secret. I kept that a secret for a long time and now only Nya and I remember it. After I encountered Nadakhan the first time a few years ago I--" Jay began but was interrupted.

"Wait, you've encountered him before?!" Libber exclaimed.

"It was quite a while ago but yes. He only seemed to target me because I made my first few wishes by mistake. That's how I found out that I was adopted and Cliff was my father. I wasn't told anything else. After he found out that I was a lightning elemental master he did seem to act more strict around me. He did capture me a few days after and torture me. It was NOT a fun experience. But after making my last wish, everything went back in time, leaving only Nya and me to remember everything that happened. Of course, we told the rest of the team but it took a while for us to manage to get our heads around it before we could say anything." Jay continued.

"I had no idea that he would target you so early. I didn't think he'd target you at all." Libber sighed, "Looks like I was wrong."

"You can't protect someone if you aren't there to help or keep an eye on them. You didn't even know what was happening back in the city." Jay argued.

"But if I was there, I would have stopped you from becoming a ninja," Libber added.

"I do love being a ninja. At first, it was quite weird and it did need some getting used to but now its just part of my life. It's something that I love. Plus, I don't need to go to school." Jay winked, which made Libber giggle.

"Were you ever told that you act just like your mum?" She asked.

"Multiple times by Cliff but I did find it rather weird that I never really saw Sabrina making any jokes or whatever. She was kinda serious." Jay replied.

"Well, now you know." She smiled at her son.

"Just please tell me that this isn't a lie. I don't want to believe something that isn't true again. I feel like an idiot for listening to Cliff and Sabrina." He sighed.

"You aren't an idiot. It's my fault for making them lie." Libber told him.

"You didn't make them lie. They were the ones who lied. You didn't tell them to." Jay reminded her.

"Why don't you call Cliff dad? I mean, he is your real father after all." Libber wondered.

"I would but I guess it's just a habit. Calling my dad, I mean Ed, father is just normal for me and calling Cliff is too. Cliff was my childhood hero growing up. He was my favourite actor." Jay replied.

"I bet you didn't expect your childhood hero was your dad, did you?" Libber laughed.

"It was a shock." He smiled.

**Back at the Bounty**

"Are we not allowed to see or something?" Zane wondered.

"Please let us see," Cole added.

Kai looked over at Ben, who nodded. The fire ninja handed Zane the paper. He scanned over it and handed it to Cole.

"You're right. It's unbelievable." Zane agreed with his teammates.

Cole also read over the paper. He frowned and looked up, shaking his head.

"I'm Sabrina's son?" Cole questioned.

"It makes no sense." Kai pointed out.

"I know. Maybe Cliff knows something about this. I need to speak to him." Cole stormed out of the room.

The others were left standing there, exchanging looks.

One by one, they came back into the main room, Wu and Sabrina looked confused.

"Where did Cole go?" Wu frowned.

"He needed to go and see Cliff about something," Zane replied.

"If he's going to see him about Jay, he won't tell him anything. It's top secret." Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"It's not about that," Nya told her.

Lloyd turned to his uncle and frowned, "You knew!"

Wu looked confused. Even if he did know, he wouldn't tell them. Everything that Wu told them was only ever something to do with a villain but not about his students' real family and parentage. He felt like he shouldn't intrude on their family secrets and privacy. That wouldn't be right. Of course, he knew, he knew for a while, but he was very good at keeping secrets. Even better than the ninja was.

"Knew what?" He questioned.

"About Cole being her son!" Lloyd pointed at Sabrina.

Wu stared at his feet, "I can't tell you anything."

This outburst caught Sabrina off guard. That was not what she was expecting to come up. She was hoping it would be more about Jay but not about her son. The son she gave up. The son that she didn't want to know or have. He was the past that she was ashamed of.

**At Cliff's House**

Cole marched up to the door and knocked roughly. He was desperate to find out everything. Desperate.

Cliff opened the door to see what he was not expecting.

"Cole? What are you doing here?" Cliff frowned.

"I need to talk to you." He replied.

"About what?" The actor questioned.

"This." Cole held up the paper in his hand and pointed at himself and Sabrina.


	21. Full story

"How do you know about that?" Cliff's eyes widened.

"It was partly Sabrina. Zane scanned her and found out that Sabrina is Jay's aunt. She then gave it away that her sister was Jay's real mother. Sensei came in and saw Sabrina and was like, 'Hey its Sabrina, Libber's sister,' and then we found the files to Libber to prove that Jay was her kid and we found out that I was Sabrina's kid by looking at this." Cole held up the papers again and waved them in the actor's face.

"We don't mention her name." Cliff interrupted.

"Who, Sabrina?" Cole frowned.

"No, Li--" He stopped himself and sighed.

Cole sighed too, "Mind telling me about this whole thing with Sabrina being my mum then?"

"Sure, come on in," Cliff responded, clothing the door behind the earth ninja. They entered the living room and sat down. Cole was beyond ready to find out what had happened.

"Where do you want me to start?" Cliff wondered.

"The beginning and don't miss anything out," Cole told him.

Cliff took a deep breath and began, "It all started when I was with Sabrina. We were happy until she found out that she was pregnant."

"With me?" Cole questioned.

"Yes, with you. I managed to persuade her that having a child was a good idea but when you were born, she was certain that we couldn't keep you. I ended things with her but she took you and left. She disguised herself as the mother you knew just so I wouldn't know who she was and where she went, yet I did. Her plan was to fake her death so she could get away from you and Lou. They did love each other very much though." Cliff continued.

"She faked her death?! Me and my father were heartbroken for years! He couldn't get over the fact that she was gone and she was happily out in Ninjago somewhere living her life like a normal person?!" Cole exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. A year later she left with you I just so happened to meet her sister, Libber. We were very much in love and a few months later we got married and had a child, Jay. Nadakhan attacked whilst we were at the hospital and Libber fled, never to be seen again." Cliff sighed.

"Tell me more about Nadakhan's attack," Cole ordered.

"The lightning elemental masters are the only ones who can kill a djin. That's why he targeted us at the hospital that night. Once he found out that we had a son, he knew that Jay was going to inherit her powers so he tried to kill him. I managed to escape with him but Libber left and never came back. I can't imagine seeing her again. I don't want to. She left me all alone and I was so worried. I had to give Jay up for his safety." Cliff explained.

"Lightning elemental masters can kill djins?! Does Jay know this?" Cole wondered.

"I doubt it." Cliff sighed.

Cole frowned and thought for a minute. If what Cliff was telling him was true then that meant something way more important...

"Hold up," Cole said, "If Sabrina is my mum and Libber is her sister then Jay is my cousin, right?"

Cliff nodded slowly, trying not to burst Cole's bubble.

"Or..." Cole began, "If you're my birth father and you're also Jay's birth father doesn't that make us..."

Cliff stayed silent as Cole took a moment to finish the sentence. This was definitely a shock to him.

"Brothers?"

The actor nodded slowly, "There's something else that Jay doesn't know."

"What's that?" Cole frowned.

"Sabrina is the elemental master of Earth. Plus, if Jay finds out that we've been lying to him, I don't know what he'll do. He cannot find out about this. Any of it. Not even that you're brothers. And he especially can't find out about Libber. Promise you won't tell him?"

Cole sighed. Jay had been his best friend for many years and they had been through so much. Cole never lied to him. He told his blue friend everything. Including secrets. This was something pretty big to keep from him and he didn't know if he could. Sure, Jay could do anything if he had been lied to about his family AGAIN but no, they didn't know what. Jay was capable of so much. Cole was just lucky that he didn't get murdered when he found out that Nya didn't like Jay anymore, instead she liked the earth ninja. Jay seemed pretty upset about it but Cole never wanted to bring it up just in case it still hurt. Nya was one of the more sensitive conversations with Jay, especially their past; it was pretty rough.

"Cole? Please?" Cliff added.

Cole was distracted from his thoughts and brought back to reality before nodding and getting up off the sofa.

"I should get back," Cole told him.

"I'm sorry, Cole," Cliff called out as he left, slamming the door behind him.

**Back at the Bounty**

Everyone was silently waiting for Cole to return. No one had said a word for hours and it was starting to get awkward.

"What I don't get is why Cole?" Someone spoke up. It was Nya.

Everybody glanced at Nya, who was looking rather confused.

"I mean, out of everyone here, would it really make sense if it was Cole?" Nya questioned.

Kai stared at his feet, also wondering about why Cole had been 'chosen'.

"Well he did grow up without his mother, right?" Kai asked.

"He did know her for a short amount of time before she supposedly passed away," Zane replied.

Sabrina was not listening in on their conversation. She knew that Cliff would tell Cole everything that happened and she was dreading seeing her son walk back through that door with all the information he needed to tell Jay.

"True." Kai and Nya said in unison.

At that moment, Cole came in. He wasn't as angry as he was before but he definitely couldn't look Sabrina in the eyes. Or look at her at all. Everyone looked up to see him.

"What did he tell you?" Lloyd wondered.

"Too much." Cole sighed.

"Are we allowed to know?" Ben asked.

Cole shrugged his shoulders. He sat down between Kai and Nya and buried his head in his hands.

"What we have found out is that if Sabrina is your mother and her sister is Libber, Jay's mother, then that would make you and Jay cousins." Zane pointed out.

"At least you know something." Kai patted his friend on the back, roughly as usual.

Cole raised his head, "We aren't cousins, Zane."

"Yes, you are," Zane replied.

"Scan me," Cole ordered.

Zane scanned Cole and looked over the data, finding out the truth, "Oh."

"What is it?" Lloyd questioned.

"He is right. They are not cousins." Zane replied.

"But Nindroids are never wrong, right?" Ben wondered.

"When they don't know all the information, yes, they can be." The nindroid told his friend.

"What are you talking about?" Nya frowned.

"Jay and I are brothers." Cole pointed out.

The ninja exchanged looks.

"Does Jay know this?" Nya asked.

Cole shook his head, "And he can't know. If he finds out that he's been lied to his whole life AGAIN, he could do anything."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, in which Nya got up to go and answer. Kai squealed and jumped behind the sofa once again.

"IT'S NADAKHAN!!" Kai shouted.

Nya rolled her eyes and peered out the window.

"No, it's not." She told her brother.

"Oh... I knew that." Kai giggled nervously and sat back down.

"Who is it then?" Ben wondered.

"Our parents."


	22. My true family

"We saw what happened on the news. Where is Jay?" Edna wondered.

"It's a long story." Nya sighed.

"Yeah, Ninjago has been acting weird lately," Maya added.

Cole stayed quiet. Not only was Ed and Edna there but Lou was too. The father that lied to him. Now he knew how Jay felt.

Lou frowned at the sight of his 'dead' wife. Was he hallucinating?

"S-Sabrina?" Lou questioned, hoping he wasn't just seeing things.

Sabrina looked over at his familiar face and smiled.

"Lou!" She ran over and hugged him, he hugged her back tightly.

"How are you here?! Where did you go?! I thought you were dead!" Lou exclaimed as he pulled away.

"Yeah well it's a long story and I don't have time to tell it. Neither do you." Sabrina looked over at Cole, who wasn't making eye contact with anyone. He looked like he was about to cry or storm out of the room. Lou glanced over at his son. He immediately knew that something was up.

Lou sat beside Cole. He couldn't look his father in the eyes after all those years of lies. It was all right under his nose too.

"It's good to see you again, son," Lou spoke up. Cole did not move, not even eye contact.

Lou frowned, "What's wrong? You're never like this."

Lloyd, Kai, Zane and Ben all exchanged looks. It was strange of Cole not to y'all to his dad as he was the reason why Cole unlocked his true potential. They had been so close ever since then. But they knew exactly why Cole wasn't talking to Lou.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" Lou wondered.

"You lied to me," Cole whispered.

Lou frowned, "I lied to you? What are you talking about?"

At that moment, the door knocked. Lloyd called out that it was open and in came Cliff. How ironic.

"GO AWAY!" Cole shouted at his birth father.

Lou looked shocked at the sight of Cliff. He was also confused as to why his son told him to leave.

"Cole, I'm sorry." Cliff pleaded.

"Wait what's going on here?!" Lou joined their conversation. He peered over at the other ninja and Ben. They all tried to act like they had no idea what was going on.

"Nya? Kai?" Ray frowned.

The siblings looked at each other, deciding whether to speak up or not. Kai slightly shook his head.

"Nya, tell us what's going on here," Maya told her daughter.

"Mum, it's none of our business..." Nya replied.

"So you do know what's going on?" Ray wondered.

Nya fell silent, as did everyone else.

"Wait, what's that noise?" Ben spoke up.

"Don't try and change the subject, Ben." Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm being serious. It sounds like someone running." Ben argued.

Everyone stayed quiet. Ben was right. It did sound like someone running.

"HELP!" Someone outside shouted.

They all exchanged looks before Kai, Nya, Zane, Lloyd and Cole all got up and stood in front of the door in fighting stance.

"What are you doing?" Ed frowned.

"It could be anybody," Kai replied.

"We could be under attack," Zane added.

Within a matter of seconds, the door flung open showing a blonde woman with bright blue eyes. She looked quite similar to Sabrina.

"Are you okay?" Kai asked.

Cliff and Sabrina looked at each other, shocked.

"Libber?!" They both exchanged.

She looked at them and froze.

Nya suddenly remembered where she recognised her from. She was with Jay when he came to see Nya about a week ago. The last time she would see him.

"Look, I don't have time to explain anything. Jay's in danger!" Libber exclaimed.

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"Nadakhan has found his hiding spot and now we're all in danger! You have to come! All of you!" Libber told them.

"We have to save him!" Nya told them.

"How do you know Jay?!" Cliff frowned.

"There's no time to explain! Let's go!" Libber directed them.

————————————————————

As the ninja was sprinting to where Jay had been hiding, Lou approached Cole, who was still not talking to anyone.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Lou asked.

"I only talk to my true family," Cole responded.

"But I am your true family," Lou argued.

Cole ran faster to get as far away from Lou as possible. Plus, he desperately wanted to save his brother.

After a while, they came to a stop in the middle of the desert. It was a small village. Libber had to lead them to a part of Ninjago they had never seen before.

"Nadakhan is nearby. We just have to keep him as far away from Jay as possible." Libber told them.

"Where is Jay?" Lloyd wondered.

"He's hiding at the moment but I think it would be best if he stayed where he was. I think maybe one person can meet him at a time if you wanted to see him. But he's kind of confused and upset at the moment so just go easy on him." Libber explained.

"Why?" Ed frowned.

"He recently found out about his TRUE family heritage." She glared at Sabrina, "And he's desperate to go back to Ninjago to find his brother but its too dangerous. I told him he couldn't go."

Nya looked at Cole. They all knew exactly who Jay's brother was.

"Anyway, who wants to see him first?" Libber smiled.

"I think I should," Cole spoke up.

"Okay. He's up in the attic of that house." She pointed.

"Thanks." Cole began to head off before it was too late.

"Uh, Cole." Zane called out as Cole turned around to see his icy friend with something in his hand, "you might want to take this."

It was proof that Jay and Cole were brothers. If Cole wanted to tell Jay the truth, this would be his only way.

"Thanks, Zane." Cole gave him a fake smile.

**At the attic**

Jay was pacing around the room, panicking. Nadakhan was close and Jay didn't want to lose his family.

There was a knock on the door, interrupting Jay's thoughts.

"Who is it?" Jay was on edge, hoping it wasn't the evil djin.

"It's Cole, can I come in?" Cole asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes! Of course!" Jay exclaimed, a little happier to hear his best friend.

Cole opened the door, closing it behind him. Jay ran at him, hugging him tightly.

"I've missed you so much!" Jay told him.

"I missed you too. You've been here the whole time?" Cole wondered.

"It's killing me! Of course, I'm with my birth mother but it's just not the same being with you guys. I've known you for 9 years, Cole, I can't imagine living life without you." Jay explained.

Cole smiled, "You made my life a whole lot brighter, Jay. I can't imagine it without you either."

"I want to go home. Sure, it's peaceful here, it's just that Ninjago is where I want to be right now. Not to mention I want to find my secret brother." Jay giggled a little from nervousness.

"About that..." Cole mumbled.

"What about it?" Jay frowned.

"I-I know who your brother is." Cole blurted out.

"You do?!" Jay exclaimed, "who?!"

"You might want to take a look at this." Cole handed Jay the paper in his hand.


	23. Words hurt

Jay scanned over the paper, fixing his eyes on what was unbelievable.

"This..." Jay began, "I-I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Cole sat down on a large box, placing his head in his hands.

"It doesn't make sense..." Jay added, sitting down on the dusty floor.

"I found out a few days ago but Cliff didn't want you to know. You already knew about having a brother so why not tell you, you know?" Cole tried to lighten the mood but Jay just fell silent. He sat there thinking and reading over the paper again.

Cole noticed that Jay was not acting normal. He thought he would be happy to find out they were brothers. They were already so close, now they could be closer. But Jay was not himself. Instead, he looked disappointed.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked.

"It's not what I expected," Jay told him.

"I wasn't expecting it either." Cole laughed.

"This isn't funny, Cole." Jay looked over at his best friend.

Cole was sort of shocked by Jay's outcome. Maybe he didn't want them to be brothers.

"Why are you upset? I thought you'd love the idea of being brothers." Cole spoke up.

"I do it's just—" Jay was cut off.

"It doesn't sound like it to me," Cole argued.

"It's not a bad thing, Cole. It's just the fact that I've been lied to my whole life and—" Jay began to explain.

"Don't you think I'm upset about that too?! I felt bad for you Jay but I don't now! The least you could do is comfort me just like I did for you!" Cole exclaimed.

Jay fell silent. He couldn't look his brother in the eyes.

"Best friends are supposed to support each other! Instead, you're being selfish!" Cole shouted.

**Outside**

"He's been gone a long time." Kai pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm starting to worry," Lou added.

Nya exchanged looks with Lloyd.

"Maybe someone should go and check on them," Edna suggested.

"I guess one more visitor wouldn't hurt." Libber smiled.

"I'll go." Nya volunteered.

"Nadakhan could be up there. Just be careful sis." Kai told her.

"I will don't worry." She gave her older brother a smile of reassurance and left to go and find them.

**Back in the attic**

Jay felt guilty now.

"Cole I didn't mean t—" Jay tried to apologise.

"I honestly thought you were better than that, Jay. I have always supported you and now you do this!?!" Cole yelled.

Nya burst into the room, confused and shocked.

"What's going on in here?!" Nya exclaimed.

"It isn't easy, Cole," Jay mumbled.

"You know what Jay, I'm glad you're adopted. Now you can finally see what it's like to not be positive all the time. It's annoying!" Cole shouted.

"Guys." Nya tried to interrupt.

Jay felt tears in his eyes but he tried to hold them back.

"I'm glad you're stuck here because the past week has been so peaceful! None of us has missed you!" Cole shouted.

Jay's heart sank at what Cole had been saying.

"Cole I—" Jay began.

"I was only pretending to be your best friend because I felt bad for you! Nobody likes you Jay. Especially your parents. They never wanted you. That's why they let you become a ninja, so they could get rid of you for as long as possible! My parents care about me because at least I have one of my birth parents with me. They didn't give me away unlike yours!" Cole blurted out.

Tears flooded from Jay's eyes as Nya gasped.

"I hope that Nadakhan comes to get you because I'm going home and I don't want to see you ever again." Cole stormed out.

Jay sat on the floor, knees to his chest and his head buried between them, sobbing. Nya ran over and sat beside him. She hugged him tightly as he cried.

What Cole had said wasn't fair or true.

"Jay, listen to me, none of that was true, okay?" Nya told him.

Jay raised his head, tears still dribbling down his freckled cheeks.

"No, Nya, it was. All of it. I'm annoying. I'm probably the most annoying person in all of Ninjago." Jay argued.

"No, you aren't," Nya replied.

"I shouldn't be a ninja. I shouldn't even be here!" Jay shouted.

"Don't you dare say that!" Nya exclaimed.

"It's true though! Your lives wouldn't be at risk if I was gone!" Jay argued.

"Jay, please don't say that. I love you. I need you here." Nya told him.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I AM SICK OF PEOPLE LYING TO ME!" Jay yelled, pushing her away.

Nya's heart sank. She wasn't lying to him but he didn't know that. She loved him and to hear him say that he didn't want to exist made her want to cry. It made her want to never leave and just comfort him whether Nadakhan found them or not.

"Just leave." He cried into his knees, "Just leave and never come back."

Nya fell silent as tears fell down her cheeks. She never saw her boyfriend like this.

All that was left in the room now was a sobbing blue ninja and a shocked and upset Nya. She didn't know what to say anymore.

Ed and Edna entered the room, smiles all over their faces, ready to see their son.

"You were gone a long time so we came to see what was happening." Edna smiled.

"Yes. Cole also ran off so we wanted to see what happened." Ed said before spotting his crying son.

Ed ran over to Jay and hugged him whilst Edna looked over at Nya, who was still in shock.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Cole said some stuff that he shouldn't have said." Nya replied, purposely not mentioning the little 'conversation' they had just had.

"Oh, Jay!" Edna ran over and hugged him too.

Jay dried his tears and looked at his parents in the eyes.

"Just go home. All of you. Hide from Nadakhan. I want you to be safe." Jay told them.

"We can't leave you. What if Nadakhan gets you?" Ed asked.

"I don't care if I get caught. You need to go." Jay told them.

Edna kissed him on the forehead and got up to leave, as did Ed. Edna tapped Nya on the arm, signalling her to leave.

"He'll be okay," Edna told her.

And with that, they left. Even though Nya knew leaving was wrong, she knew it was the right thing to do. She wanted to trust Jay but this was Nadakhan they were talking about and he was not in the right state of mind. She didn't want to leave him. It was the last thing she wanted to do but staying would only make him suffer more. At least she still had his charm. And she knew for a fact that she wouldn't see him again...


	24. Leaving you behind

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Cole exclaimed to the others as Nya, Ed and Edna arrived.

"But we came here to stop Nadakhan," Kai argued.

"He told us to leave. Now come on." Cole rolled his eyes, grabbing Kai by the arm aggressively and pulling him away.

Everyone sprinted back towards the direction they had come from except for Nya. She turned back to look at the village and saw Nadakhan getting closer and closer to Jay's hideout.

Edna places a hand on the water ninja's shoulder.

"He's going to be okay. He always finds a way." Edna smiled reassuringly. Nya looked the elderly lady in the eye.

"But he's not himself. Plus after what Cole just said. If I hadn't got there, Cole could have done anything to him." Nya complained.

"Jay's strong, we both know that," Edna told her.

Nya sighed, "I have to tell the others what happened."

"You can't. For both Cole and Jay's sake." Edna argued.

"I have to. Jay didn't deserve that." Nya explained.

"You have to keep it a secret. It's only going to make the situation worse." Edna fake smiled.

Nya sighed again, this time looking towards the building of Jay's whereabouts.

"I just don't want to leave him."

Edna felt the same. Yes, Jay may have been her adopted son but she still raised and loved him the same way as if he was her real child. He had seen him grow up and become more and maturer (which didn't happen often). He loved and cared for him more than anything and would never forgive herself if he was gone.

"For now, we have to get out of here and find somewhere safe to hide. It will protect both us and Jay." Edna began to run off as fast as she could, catching up with the others. As did Nya.

**In the attic...**

Jay sat in the corner of the room, sobbing into his knees. He could never forgive himself for what just happened, not to mention that he pushed his one true love away. Now he was alone, once again.

Suddenly, a bright orange cloud appeared in the room, startling Jay. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and he moved his knees so his legs were flat on the floor. His mouth was agape. He knew exactly what was happening...

"Jay? Oh, Jay? Where are you?????" Nadakhan called out, looking around.

Jay covered his mouth, trying to make his breathing seem quieter. It somehow worked.

"I know you're here, Jay," Nadakhan whispered, trying to listen to something that gives away where he was.

Nadakhan shot his head towards the corner Jay was in and smirked, "got ya."

Jay's worst nightmare was coming true. Again.

————————————————————

"This is where we are staying?" Kai complained as they entered the apartment in the middle of the city. The people who were most wanted were taken there. Kai, Nya, Cole, Zane, Lloyd, Ed, Edna, Libber, Sabrina, Ben and Cliff.

"It's the only thing we have right now. Ray and Maya will bring us the bare necessities when we need them." Libber told them.

"I hate being shut up." Lloyd moaned.

"Yeah, well, we all do so suck it up." Cole scowled.

Everyone exchanged looks. Nya gritted her teeth at Cole's sudden outburst. He knew what was bothering him and it was bothering her too.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Cole is right. It's for ours and Jay's protection." Zane explained.

The ninja nodded.

"You never told us how Jay was." Ben pointed out.

"Oh, he's doing fine," Cole answered sarcastically.

Nya rolled her eyes and huffed, barging past him and towards the dining table. She sat down and buried her head in her hands, frustrated.

"You wanna go find out what's up with her?" Lloyd whispered to Kai. Kai nodded and headed over to his sister whilst everyone else spread out and got comfy.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked, sitting beside her.

She raised her head and sighed, "It's nothing."

"Has it got anything to do with Cole's sudden change in attitude?" Kai narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

Nya nodded, "partly."

"Explain. Don't leave anything out." Kai told her.

Nya took a deep breath and began, "When I got there, Cole was shouting at Jay, telling him how horrible he was and how nobody wanted him."

"He said WHAT?!" Kai exclaimed whilst jumping out of his seat.

"Shush!!" Nya reacted quickly.

"Where is he? I need to talk to him." Kai asked, angrily.

"No, Kai, you can't!" Nya told him.

"There is no way that I'm letting him get away with saying anything about Jay. He's like a brother to me." Kai explained.

At that moment, Ben poked his head around the corner of the door and smiled.

"Did I hear that you want to know where Cole is?" Ben wondered.

"No!" Nya answered.

"Yes!" Kai glared at his sister.

"I'll take that as a yes. He's upstairs setting up his room." Ben replies and walked away silently.

"Kai, please don't." Nya pleaded.

"I have to." He marched out.

————————————————————

Cole was unpacking his clothes and placing them neatly in the drawers. He was still a little shaken up after what had happened with Jay but he knew that he wasn't the one at fault. Jay was.

Kai suddenly burst into, the door slamming against the wall, startling Cole.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Cole scowled.

"How could you?!" Kai shouted.

Cole frowned. What could Kai possibly be mad at? Was it because Cole chose his room first? Was it because they had left and Kai didn't even have a chance to say hi? What was happening?

"How could I what?" Cole frowned, still folding his clothes.

"I know what happened with Jay. I know what you told him." Kai folded his arms.

"O-okay?" Cole was still confused as to what Kai was talking about.

"And I just want to say that it is completely unacceptable and—" Kai yelled before he was rudely interrupted.

"Unacceptable? What are you talking about? All I told Jay was that we miss him and we love him to pieces no matter where we are or what happens. I don't know why you're so mad." Cole explained.

"Oh come on, Cole. Don't lie to me. You can't hide it." Kai rolled his eyes.

"I'm not lying! What did I supposedly say then?" Cole raised an eyebrow.

"You told Jay that nobody liked him and that nobody wants him here." Kai scowled.

"Woah, Woah, Woah! Why on earth would I say anything like that to Jay? I love him to the moon and back! Who told you I said that?" Cole wondered.

"Nya," Kai replied.

"Well, she clearly lied to you. To be honest, I've noticed that Nya has acted weird around me lately. I don't know why but I think she has it out for me at the moment. I have no idea what I could have done." Cole explained.

"My sister never lies. Especially to me." Kai tried to make a point.

"You must be wrong then." Cole told Kai," Do you want to know the real truth?"

"Of course!" Kai blurted out.

"Nya was the one who said all those horrible things. I tried to comfort Jay." Cole lied.

"Are you sure? I mean, Nya loves and cares for Jay. I'm not so sure she would say anything like that." Kai questioned.

"I heard it with my own ears, Kai." Cole continued.

"Okay, I'll have a word with her. Sorry for blaming you with no evidence, Cole." Kai apologised and left the room to go and find his sister.

"No problem," Cole smirked.

**Back downstairs...**

Kai sat down at the dining table whilst Nya made a cup of tea in the kitchen.

"Here." She places the mug of hot drink in front of the frustrated fire ninja.

"Thanks." He smiled a little at his sister before taking a small sip.

"So what did he say?" Nya asked, sitting down next to her brother.

"The truth." Kai sighed.

"Finally! Wait, he just owned up to it?" Nya frowned.

"I thought you loved Jay." Kai looked Nya in the eyes.

"I do, more than anything. Why?" Nya asked, confused.

"Then why would you say all of those horrible things?" Kai wondered.

"Me?!" Nya exclaimed.

"You know he's going through a lot at the moment, Nya, and then you go and treat him like a pile of trash?! I thought you were better than that!" Kai shouted.

"It wasn't me!" She added.

"And then you have the audacity to lie to me as well?!" Kai continued.

"Kai, it wasn't me! It was Cole!" Nya interrupted.

"Until you stop lying to me and decide to own up to what you did, don't talk to me. We don't accept liars in our family." Kai got up and stormed out of the room, his cup of hot tea in his hands.

Nya places her head in her hands. Cole had lied to Kai. Cole had told him that it was Nya who said mean things to Jay. It wasn't her but Kai wasn't going to listen anymore. She had to do something.

But deep down in her heart, she didn't want to argue. It would only drive the team further and further apart. They were already on the verge of breaking after losing Jay and now they were lying to each other. Things would have been so much better if Jay was there. They wouldn't have been in that situation. The team would have been getting along just like how they used to but things were different now and she hated it.

Nya took Jay's blue necklace out of her pocket and started fiddling with the chains. She desperately wanted to know if her boyfriend was okay. She also wanted to know if they were okay after what had happened. Nya had tried to show that she truly loved him but he pushed away. It killed her to see him that way. It never really happened which made it worse. He was the happiest, most lively member of the team.

She hated herself if she thought for even a minute that he wasn't strong enough to fight Nadakhan. The rest of the team may not have noticed but Jay was always the strongest and bravest. Nya knew that since the very beginning.

Jay was a tough fighter and when he wanted something, he was going to get it. Especially when it came to Nya.

**In the living room...**

Libber was sat reading a book about Ninjago's history, trying to catch up on everything she had missed over the past nineteen years. After all, a lot had happened.

At that moment, Cliff entered and spotted his ex.

"Hey." Libber raised her head.

Cliff said nothing as he sat down in the sofa opposite her.

"You've been in that village for nineteen years?" Cliff frowned.

Libber closed her book and sighed.

"I have so many questions." Cliff started.

"Go ahead. I'm listening." Libber told him.


	25. Nothing left

**In the cell...**

Jay sat alone, in the dark. All he could think about was what Cole had said and how he rejected Nya. She was just trying to comfort him and he pushed her away. He felt bad, really bad. But what was really taking over his mind was his and Cole's 'conversation'.

What Cole said was getting to him. He needed someone now more than ever and what made it worse was that Jay was part of a nightmare, his nightmare and he hated every second of it. He always wished that he never had to see Nadakhan again. After all, things had started to look up for him after everything happened. Nya started treating him more seriously and they got back together. Jay had also grown stronger after his experiences. This time was different. He was growing weaker and weaker.

"Looks like you're doing better."

Nadakhan appeared out of nowhere, which was normal for a djinn like him. It was surprising how Jay hadn't gotten used to it yet.

Jay dried the tears that were trickling down his cheeks and looked up at the villain.

"I'm feeling better too," Jay replied sarcastically.

"Glad to hear that," Nadakhan smirked. "Now get up, I have to tell you the plan for tomorrow."

Jay did just that. He got up and leaned his back against the dusty grey wall.

"Plan? I'd rather be left alone, thank you very much." Jay rolled his eyes.

"You think I'm going to leave you alone?" Nadakhan laughed.

Jay crosses his arms and stepped forward so he was stood at least two feet away from the djinn.

"Don't you think I've been through enough already?" He scowled.

Nadakhan also crosses his arms, "You must pay for what you did."

"I didn't do anything to you," Jay argued.

"You took my home and family away from me. Now I am doing the same to you." Nadakhan replied.

Jay fell silent.

"Doesn't feel good does it?" He continued, "Just because I'm a djinn, it doesn't mean that I don't have feelings. Watching you suffer makes me feel better."

"You will never understand the true pain to lose your friends and family!" Jay shouted.

Nadakhan opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Ever since I became a ninja it has been hard for me. Moving away from my parents, seeing them once every few months. Being scared that whenever the others go on a mission, they won't come back." Jay exclaimed.

"So now what?" Nadakhan glared, "I'm supposed to feel sorry for you?"

"Don't you feel just a little sympathy?" Jay frowned.

"Let me think about it," Nadakhan began. "Um... no."

Jay rolled his eyes, expecting nothing less.

"I'm an evil djinn, do you really think I'd feel bad?" Nadakhan smirked.

"I guess not."

"And after the way you've just acted, I'm not going to tell you what is happening tomorrow. It'll be a surprise for you, won't it?" Nadakhan grinned.

Before Jay could say anything else, Nadakhan disappeared, leaving orange smoke behind.

"Fantastic." Jay sat back down on the floor. "Nya, wherever you are, please stay safe."

**At the house...**

Nya sat in her room, thinking. That's all she did within the past few days. She, and the others were bored. Their phones had been taken, turned off, put in a box and placed in the locked basement.

She just hoped that Jay was all right even though she knew he was having the worst time possible.

She can't even talk to her brother.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door which startled her.

"Come in." She called.

In came Kai, not making eye contact, obviously.

"Downstairs." Is all he said, walking off straight afterwards.

Nya sighed, rolled her eyes and got off the bed. She wandered out the room, closing the door behind her and headed downstairs. Everyone was waiting for her in the living room.

"What's going on?" Nya frowned.

"That's what we wanted to ask you," Zane replied.

"What are you talking about?" Nya wondered.

"Kai said he wanted to tell us something," Lloyd added.

Nya sat down, waiting for Kai to begin.

"So when we went to that village to find Jay, Nya and Cole were alone with him. And Cole came to me yesterday and told me about something serious that I should tell you about." Kai began.

"Just tell us already." Cliff rolled his eyes.

"Cole witnessed Nya saying some really horrible stuff to Jay," Kai told them.

"What?!" Ben exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Zane frowned.

"Nya, did you really?" Lloyd asked.

Nya looked at Cole, who was trying to hide his smirk. She didn't want Cole to win but the team needed Cole at the moment. They can't afford to lose such a strong member. And hopefully, it would protect Jay. She had to lie.

She sighed and nodded, giving in to Cole.

Ed and Edna exchanged looks. They walked in when Nya was trying to comfort Jay, they knew that Cole was to blame. Yet, they were confused about why Nya would own up to something that she didn't do.

"I can't believe you would do such a thing." Libber shook her head with disappointment.

"Yeah, I thought you were better than that," Ben added.

"Then she had the audacity to blame Cole." Kai continued.

"Cole has done nothing but support Jay. Do you think that he would say horrible things to his best friend?" Lloyd explained.

Nya shook her head, staring at her hands. She wasn't to blame. Cole was. But she had to do it. She had to lie no matter what the others would say.

"Nya, please go to your room and don't even think about talking to us," Kai demanded.

"Any of us," Lloyd added.

A tear fell down Nya's cheek as she ran back upstairs and slammed her bedroom door.

"I never thought that Nya could be so horrible," Zane told them.

"Let's just forget about her for now. We have to stay safe." Cole wandered out of the room. Kai, Lloyd, Ben and Zane all went back to what they were doing, leaving Ed and Edna left in the living room.

"I am very disappointed in her." Ed got up to leave the room.

"No, Ed. We shouldn't be disappointed." Edna argued.

"She hurt our son!" Ed exclaimed.

"It wasn't Nya! Remember when we walked in on them, Nya was trying to comfort him. She told me about all the mean things Cole had said to Jay." Edna told him.

"Pathetic! She must have been lying to us then. There is no way that Cole would say horrible things." Ed replied.

"But think about it, who is more likely to say mean things, Nya or Cole?" Edna asked.

"Nya. They haven't had the best time in the past. She was quite horrible to him before they got back together and Cole had been there for him. Remember?" Ed explained.

"Forget about the past. Nya loves Jay, you can't tell me that you haven't noticed." Edna added.

Ed thought for a minute, "I guess you're right but what if Nya turned her back on Jay? What if she was just using him that whole time?"

"I don't think she would do that," Edna responded.

At that moment, Cole wandered in with his arms crossed.

"I didn't do anything." He told them.

"Then why did you run off just as Nya got there? Isn't that suspicious?" Edna asked.

"She started saying horrible things and I couldn't take it. So I left." He replied.

"But surely if someone was being bullied, you'd stay? You know, to comfort them?" She suggested.

"It doesn't work that way." Cole walked off again.

"There's only one way we can find out the truth." Ed began.

"Which is?" Edna frowned.

"We talk to Jay," Ed replied.

"Or we talk to Nya," Edna suggested.

"Good idea."


	26. Old games

**At the house...**

Nya was in the living room whilst every one was asleep. It had been a rough few days and she didn't know if she could cope without Jay any longer. Of course, she still had his lucky necklace but she already lost him twice, how lucky could it be?

The day before hadn't been the best of days either. Nya lost her friends' and her brother's trust for something she didn't do. And what annoyed her, even more, was that Cole didn't even own up to it. It was bad enough actually saying those things to Jay and then he lies in front of everyone.

She didn't understand why she lied, all she knew was that she had to.

Edna wandered down the stairs and spotted Nya.

"You're up late." She stated. Nya turned to see her and sighed.

"I thought you guys weren't supposed to talk to me." Nya reminded her.

Edna shook her head, "I know you're lying."

Edna came and sat down beside the heartbroken Nya.

"How do you know?" She frowned.

"I was there, remember? You told me everything when I arrived. Ed and I comforted him." Edna explained.

"Ah, right. I forgot." Nya sighed. At least she had someone to talk to.

"What I wanted to know is why lie? Cole should get what he deserves, doesn't he?" Edna frowned.

Nya thought for a minute, "I tried telling Kai that but Cole had already gotten to him. Cole told him that I said all those horrible things, which made me realise that the team needs Cole more than they need me."

"Your one brother didn't believe you?!" Edna exclaimed.

"Shush! No one can find out that I lied! Jay needs help and they are the best people to do it, I'm not strong enough, Edna." Nya told her.

"But Nya, Jay needs you now more than ever," Edna argued.

"Then why did he push me away when I tried to comfort him?" Nya wondered.

"Because he was hurt. I'm sure he didn't mean to." Edna responded.

**At the cell...**

Jay, for the first time in days, slept peacefully on the cold hard floor of his cell. He didn't think about anything that was happening. Instead, he was having a dream. A dream that he wished was true...

**Jay's dream...**

_Jay knocked on the door of the other victims' hideaway house with a huge smile on his face._

_The large wooden door slowly opened, a masculine face appearing in the gap. The door was then fully opened, revealing the person who was stood behind the door. It was Cole._

_"Jay?!" Cole exclaimed, "What are you doing here?!"_

_"I defeated Nadakhan. We're safe now!!" Jay told him excitedly._

_"I'm so happy you're back!" Cole replied, pulling his brother into a hug._

_Jay didn't hug back, instead, he made it awkward._

_"I am so so so sorry for what I said. Will you forgive me?" Cole pleaded._

_"Of course! You're my brother!" Jay hugged him back._

_At that point, Nya wandered in and spotted Jay._

_"Jay!" She shouted. This caught the boys' attention._

_She ran over to her boyfriend and hugged him as tight as possible._

_"I knew you could do it!!"_

**End of dream**

"JAY!" Someone screamed, startling the lightning ninja.

Jay rubbed his eyes so he could see even though it was dark. It didn't surprise Jay as to who it was in the cell with him. It was none other than Nadakhan himself.

"What time is it?" Jay wondered.

"It doesn't matter what time it is." Nadakhan rolled his eyes, "Now get up and follow my instructions."

Jay stood up. He already knew what was happening...

"So are you going to tell me what we are doing today?" Jay wondered.

"You mean what you are doing today and also, I wanted it to be a surprise," Nadakhan smirked.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I'm going to find out anyway. Just tell me already."

"Fine. Today is going to be a tough round of your favourite game, Scrap 'n' Tap." He explained.

"Okay, for the record, my favourite game is actually Fist 2 Face 2 so I would really appreciate it if we started with that instead," Jay replied.

"Did you want me to come up with a worse punishment?" Nadakhan asked.

"Scrap 'n' Tap it is." Jay sighed.

**At the house...**

"You don't know that. He sure acted like he didn't want me there." Nya said.

"You're overthinking it." Edna gave her a smile of reassurance, "Well if you need someone, I'm here for you. I may not be Jay but I am the closest thing to him. Kind of."

"Thanks, Edna. You've always been like a mother to me." Nya smiled back.

"Well, if you were to marry Jay, I'd be your mother in law so—" She began.

"At this rate, there won't even be a proposal." Nya cut her off.

Edna sighed, "You'll think of something. Just remember you aren't alone. The others may not be talking to you but Ed and I definitely are."

"I just wish Kai would have believed me and that Cole hadn't lied," Nya told her.

At that moment, Cole came down the stairs and spotted the two.

"Edna, remember the agreement? We aren't supposed to talk to Nya." Cole reminded her.

"I can talk to her if I want. Plus, I know that Nya didn't say anything horrible to Jay. It was you." Edna snarled.

Cole froze and looked at Nya, "What did you tell her?"

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk to me." Nya crossed her arms and huffed.

"What did you tell her?!" He repeated.

"I didn't tell her anything. She witnessed the state Jay was in and saw me trying to comfort him after you left." Nya explained.

"Then if you have proof, why are you lying about it too?" Cole frowned.

"Because I knew arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere. Plus, the team need you more than they need me right now." Nya replied.

"No, Jay needs me more than he needs you." Cole corrected her.

"The one thing Jay doesn't need right now is you." Nya rolled her eyes, "Now, I'm going to bed. Don't bother me."

Nya got up and stormed past Cole, running up the stairs quietly so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Little did they all know but Ben was in the kitchen grabbing a snack. He had snook down the stairs that lead to the kitchen and caught Cole and Edna in the living room. Being nosy, Ben decided to listen to it.

He thought that there was something off about the whole Nya being mean to Jay situation because he knew that she would never say such things as to what Kai has described but he wasn't sure whether to believe it or not.

"Why are you lying?" Edna asked.

"Lying?" Ben whispered to himself.

"As I said, I need to be there for Jay," Cole responded.

"Be there for Jay?! He's probably suffering because of what you said. It's one thing to say it but lying and passing the blame onto an innocent person is something entirely different." Edna explained.

"It isn't a big deal, okay?" Cole rolled his eyes.

"No, it is a big deal, Cole. What makes this situation worse is that Nya is lying too. She's getting into trouble for something that you did!" Edna exclaimed.

Ben's eyes widened, "It was Cole who said all that stuff?! But why did he tell Kai that it was Nya?"

"And I can't believe that Kai, her own brother, thinks she would actually say that." Edna frowned.

"The only reason the others believe me is because Nya has been known to say horrible things to him in the past. It was never really taken seriously but it definitely happened." Cole argued.

"When?!" Edna questioned.

"When the whole love triangle fiasco was going on. She said some pretty mean stuff. I can't remember most of it but I'm sure if you ask her she'll briefly tell you. It's not like she apologised or anything." Cole explained.

"That still doesn't give you the right to blame her. The others should know better than to jump to conclusions like that anyway." Edna pointed out.

"Nah, the team is known to jump to conclusions. It's like our thing." Cole joked.

"How can you seriously be joking at a time like this?!" Edna shouted, "Either you tell everyone the truth or I will."

She stormed off upstairs, as did Cole. They both went back to bed as Ben breathed a sigh of relief due to not being caught.

Did he hear what he thought he heard?

_I cannot believe that Cole was the one who said all that stuff to Jay. I knew there was something fishy going on. I didn't think for a second that Nya would be so mean. Sure, she might think that but she never says it out loud unless she really means it. What do I do? The right thing to do would be to tell Kai the truth but it looks like Edna has this under control. I hope..._

**On Misfortunes Keep...**

"You got our ship back, Captain!" Clancee exclaimed.

"Of course. We wouldn't be proper sky pirates without it, would we?" Nadakhan replied.

"How did you get your crew? You don't have the realm crystal." Jay pointed out.

"I didn't need the realm crystal to bring them back. I'm a djinn. Djinns can teleport." Nadakhan explained.

"Right... I forgot." Jay sighed.

"Why do we still have him, captain? I thought we needed his friends." Flintlocke wondered.

"Don't worry, Flintlocke. I'm on the lookout for them but first..." Nadakhan smirked at Jay, "I want to ask you something, Lightning Ninja. But you have to answer honestly."

Jay rolled his eyes.

"Tell me where your friends are and they won't get hurt," Nadakhan told him.

"One, I know the plan, Nadakhan. I know you plan on killing them all in front of me to make me suffer. Two, Why would I tell you? And three, I don't know where they are. All I know is that they are somewhere far away from you as possible." Jay replied.

"LIES!" Nadakhan yelled, startling everyone. "You do know where they are and you will tell me where they are or it's going to be a long day of Scrap 'n' Tap for you."

"And I told you I don't know where they are. You said, to be honest, well I am." Jay argued.

"So you want to play Scrap 'n' Tap until you are so weak that you can't move?" Nadakhan wondered.

"You know what Nadakhan? Yes, I do. Since the last time I played this, I've grown not only as a human being but as a ninja. I am much stronger and can take anything that you throw at me so BRING IT!" Jay stood up.

"You're going to regret your decision," Nadakhan warned him.

"I didn't have a choice anyway," Jay added.

Nadakhan stepped back as his crew members formed a large circle around Jay. Of course, Jay was tied up with his trusty old friend, the ball and chain. And of course, he had no elemental power. That was the main rule for the game. Except for the fact that there were no rules.

Flintlocke was the first to step forward. He looked at Jay and clicked his fingers, getting ready to use his fists.

"You ready for this?" Flintlocke asked.

"Hit me with your best shot, moustache man." Jay joked.

Flintlocke threw his fist towards the blue ninja's face, in which Jay tried to dodge it but failed and fell to the floor.

"I forgot how heavy these balls and chains used to be. Have you added extra mass to them?" Jay asked Nadakhan, interrupting the fight.

"Yes, I have actually. I'm glad you noticed." Nadakhan smiled sweetly.

"How could I not? I mean, it's a good addition. I think it's a nice touch to the game." Jay added.

"Aw thank you. I honestly thought it was a waste of money but I'm glad you like it." Nadakhan thanked him.

Flintlocke coughed loudly to get his captain's attention. Fortunately, it did.

"Oh right. Back to the fight." Nadakhan ordered.

Flintlocke rolled his eyes and looked over at Jay who was still on the ground. He took this as an advantage to kick him, hopefully bringing down his hopes of being able to win. If he won even one round, he wouldn't have to fight again for the whole game. That would have spoiled the plan.

Flintlocke kicked Jay in the side when he had the chance, weakening Jay a little.

"Is that all you got?!" Jay exclaimed.

This made 'moustache man' angry. He then proceeded to kick him two more times in the side, bringing him to the floor.

"I've been through much more pain than this!" Jay shouted.

"Flintlocke wins!" Nadakhan shouted.

"Hey! But I haven't tapped out yet." Jay interrupted.

"You're led on the floor." Nadakhan pointed out.

"So?" Jay argued.

"It's part of the rules," Nadakhan told him.

"I thought there were no rules." Jay frowned.

"My game. I get to decide what happens." Nadakhan explained. "Next up is Doubloon."

Flintlocke stepped back, high-fiving Doubloon.

"Bring him down," Flintlocke told him. Doubloon nodded and faced the now stood up Jay.

"When was the last time you spoke?" Jay wondered. Doubloon did nothing except stand there.

Getting into a fighting stance, Jay's facial expression went from slightly worried to a strong warrior.

"Let's fight."

Doubloon kicked Jay in the stomach, making him wince slightly.

"Aw man, I thought we were starting to become friends." Jay sighed.

Flintlocke rolled his eyes once again. He didn't miss the ridiculous lines the ninja used to say during their fights.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're two-faced? Well, they have now." Jay added.

Doubloon took that opportunity to kick him in the stomach again, sending him to the floor.

"O-Okay. That time I wasn't ready." Jay held his stomach from the pain.

"Wow, you really aren't any good at this." Nadakhan pointed out, "Dogshank is next."

Dogshank stepped forward. The weaker Jay got up and had to turn his head upwards just to see her face. He laughed nervously.

"This is going to be a long day..."


	27. Catch up

**At the cell...**

In the centre of the cell was a blue figure. A helpless blue figure. All he could do was sit, standing took too much effort. It wasted the effort he didn't have...

After Scrap 'n' Tap and being beaten up by every single person on Nadakhan's crew, Jay felt like giving in.

 _My friends shouldn't suffer for something that I've done. This isn't their fault. It's mine._ Jay thought to himself.

He was alone.

The door to the cell creaked open, revealing the evil djinn himself.

"I'm going to give you till this afternoon to tell me where they are or it's another round of Scrap 'n' Tap," Nadakhan told the ninja.

"And It-told you, I don't know where they are," Jay replied, slowly sitting up.

"You have until this afternoon to tell me the truth. In the meantime, I have a little present for you." Nadakhan smirked.

"What could possibly make me happier at this point?" Jay questioned sarcastically.

Nadakhan grabbed someone from beside him, someone who wasn't in view. The next thing Jay knew was there was an old man beside him on the floor.

"One down, ten to go." Nadakhan slammed the door, locked it and wandered off.

Jay looked over at the body beside him, realising who it was. They managed to help themself up and cough.

"What is going on?!" The man looked at Jay.

"Master Wu?" Jay frowned, "How did he get you?"

"What I want to know is what happened to you." Wu frowned too. "You look... hurt?"

"I'm in pain! I can't even stand! Why does Scrap 'n' Tap have to exist?!" Jay exclaimed.

"Have you tried standing up?" Wu wondered.

"No, because that wasn't my first idea at all." Jay rolled his eyes.

"You aren't yourself, Jay." Wu pointed out.

Jay's eyes widened, "Oh really? Maybe it's because I've been captured, my life has turned into my worst nightmare, I had to run away from my friends and family, found out the truth about my parentage TWICE, be beaten up by a bunch of wannabes and not to mention everything that Cole had said to me!"

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Calm down." Wu interrupted. "You know the truth behind your parentage? What do you know?"

"All I know is that I'm adopted, Cliff Gordon is my father, Libber Gordon is my mother, Sabrina is my aunt and Cole is my brother," Jay explained.

"Okay... that's everything the others know too. At least you aren't missing out on anything. And what do you mean Cole? What did he say to you?" Wu wondered.

"It's all a blur but what I remember is he was saying how nobody wanted me here, he wished he never met me and how I annoy everyone. There was a lot more but at that point, I was trying to block it out and—" Jay replied.

"Hold up. I was told that it was Nya who said all of that." Wu cut in.

"No, she was trying to comfort me. Who told you that?" Jay frowned.

"Kai told us all, Kai was told by Cole and—" Wu paused, "Ah."

"Cole? But why would he lie?!" Jay exclaimed.

"And why didn't Nya say anything?" Wu frowned, "Besides, it sounds like you've been through a lot."

Jay shrugged his shoulders. Talking to Wu helped ease the pain a little but at least it was bearable.

"Stand up," Wu demanded.

"Hello? Don't you remember what I told you? I can barely sit." Jay complained.

"No, you can stand."

Jay frowned, "I can't."

"Get up. Show me." Wu ordered.

"I can't stand up, Master. I tried but it hurt." Jay argued.

"Don't give in, Jay. You have fought many threats and won. Name me one time when you gave up." Wu told him.

Jay thought for a minute, "I-I don't remember..."

"Exactly. Now get up. The others wouldn't want to see you like this." Wu said.

"But I'm not as good of a ninja as they are. Look at me, I'm stuck in the cell. I'm helpless." Jay sighed.

"No, Jay. You are strong, stronger than you think. Ever since your first day at the Monastery, I've kept an eye on you. You have grown so much and I would hate to see it wasted. I know you can get through this, just like how you did all those other times." Wu explained.

Jay fell silent. He had never heard anyone talk about him in the same way that Wu did. It made him feel good, happy even, but at least it was enough to give him strength. It was all the strength he needed.

"Now try," Wu stated.

Jay took a deep breath and began to stand up, only to fall flat on the floor.

"It's too much pain. I can't." Jay mumbled.

"Try again. You can do it, Jay. I believe in you." Wu told him.

Taking another deep breath, Jay pushed himself past his limit, lifting one leg at a time. Within minutes the blue ninja was stood, managing to keep his balance.

"I-I did it! I did it! I did it!" Jay exclaimed, a huge smile on his face, "Thank you for believing in me, Sensei."

"I've always believed in you, Jay."

**At the house...**

"Guys, something happened!" Ben exclaimed as he ran into the room, waving his phone in the air.

"What is it?" Cole frowned.

"You know we can't have our phones, Ben. Nadakhan could find us." Libber reminded him.

"We have something bigger to worry about." Ben told them, "Wu's been captured."

"By Nadakhan?!" Nya exclaimed.

Ben nodded, "We sent him out to look for food but he got caught by the evil djinn himself."

"What do we do?!" Libber screamed as she ran around the room, panicking.

Kai rolled his eyes, "Looks like we've got another Jay on our hands."

"Looks like we better be cautious," Lloyd spoke up.

Ben wandered back up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him. At that moment, his phone began to ring. The name on the screen read-only 'C' but of course Ben picked up.

"Hello? It's good to hear from you again." Ben answered.

"It's good to hear from you too." The person on the other end replied, "Have you done what I asked you to do?"

"I haven't gotten the chance to yet. Plus, I'm not sure about it." Ben added.

"Don't you want your revenge?" They questioned.

"More than anything," Ben stated.

"Then do it." They ordered.

Ben hung up, smirked and nodded, "I won't let you down."

Suddenly, the door opened and Kai wandered in.

"Who were you talking to?" Kai frowned, crossing his arms.

"Just my dad," Ben replied quickly.

"You know we aren't supposed to be on our phones. And contacting people is definitely a no. Do you know how easy it is for Nadakhan to find us—" Kai complained.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Look, he just wanted to make sure I'm safe, that's all. It won't happen again, I promise." Ben interrupted.

"It better not." Kai rolled his eyes.

**At the cell...**

"Don't tell the others but this was part of my plan," Wu told Jay, who was now sat on the cold floor.

"What are you talking about?" Jay questioned.

"We all agreed to stay hidden in one place but I left and used the excuse to get food. Really, I wanted to be caught by Nadakhan so I could save you." Wu explained.

"Are you kidding?! You're risking your life because—" Jay began.

"Risking my life? But you're still here, aren't you?" Wu frowned.

"I would be if you hadn't come." Jay sighed.

"And that is why I came to help. I'm going to get you out of here." Wu told him.

"How? Nadakhan's Crew is everywhere around here." Jay stated.

"I know a corridor that we can sneak down. I saw it earlier. I think it leads to a back entrance. If we can get out of here without being spotted, that would be great." Wu suggested.

"What's wrong with a little fight?" Jay grinned.

"Not with the state you're in. Let's get out of here as fast as we can." Wu told him, helping him up.

The two snook over to the door, Wu taking a key out of his pocket.

"Woah, where did you get that?!" Jay exclaimed.

"It was in Nadakhan's pocket," Wu replied.

"I didn't even know Nadakhan has pockets." Jay frowned.

Slowly and quietly, Wu opened the large door and peaked his head around. To his surprise, no one was there.

"Let's go."

They sprinted down the long corridor Wu has suggested and managed to reach the end.

"Sensei?" Jay stopped.

"What is it, Jay?" Wu wondered.

"Thank you." The lightning ninja smiled, "For everything."

Wu smiled back and creaked open the door that lead outside.

"We're out!" Jay yelled in excitement.

"Now, let's head back to the house. I'm sure the others will be excited to see you." Wu ordered.

**At the house...**

Libber sat in the living room, thinking. After everything that happened she never really had the chance to take it all in. She met her son, ran into Ninjago City and reunited with the love of her life. Well, it was kinda more like a, 'hey I'm back now let's go.'

She tucked a strand of light blonde hair behind her ear and sighed.

"Hey." A male voice startled her. She turned around to see the very guy she was thinking about.

It had been years since they had a proper conversation. It had been years since they last saw each other. She left without saying anything, which would have put a hole in their relationship. A large hole.

"Hey." Libber smiled awkwardly.

Cliff sat down opposite her and sighed.

"So... how are you?" He asked her.

"Good. What about you?" Libber replied.

"Good."

The next few minutes were silent. It was awkward but Libber still managed to make the most out of it.

Libber began to laugh, confusing Cliff.

"What's so funny?" Cliff frowned.

"It's just that, I left to keep our son safe but the complete opposite has happened." Libber giggled.

"And that amuses you because???" Cliff wondered.

Libber stopped laughing and fell quiet. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude. It's just... been a while." Cliff apologised.

"I'm sorry too." Libber agreed.

"What are you sorry for you? You didn't do anything." Cliff told her.

"For leaving." Libber began, "I had priorities here. Jay, you, Ninjago, the team. I just left like I had no responsibility. I was young and stupid. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you!" Cliff exclaimed, "For years, I prayed that you would come back. I didn't lose hope and I'm glad I didn't."


	28. Cheater

"Where are we going?" Jay complained as he followed behind Wu into the quiet city.

"Be quiet. We don't want anyone spotting you." Wu ordered.

"But where are we going?" Jay repeated impatiently.

Wu stopped in the middle of the street and turned to face Jay.

"Your new home." He smiled.

Jay felt uneasy. He hadn't seen the others since everything happened. Sure, he'd seen his parents, Nya and Cole but that's what made him nervous. He was worried that Nya would hate him for pushing her away. And then there's Cole. The guy who ruined Jay's life. The guy who made Jay's life a living hell.

The lightning ninja couldn't stop thinking about what his best friend had said. Even though Jay knew it wasn't true, it still hurt. Hearing those words come out of the mouth of someone so close to him, sucked.

He was scared that Cole would repeat those words. He was scared that Cole wouldn't leave him alone. But what scared him more right now was Nadakhan. He had to get as far away from his as possible.

"Where exactly is home?" Jay wondered.

"We're almost there, just around the corner," Wu told him as he continued to wander down the street.

"Is it safe? Will Nadakhan find us here?" Jay asked uneasily.

Wu nodded, "Its safe. I don't think that two-faced djinn will even think of looking here."

As they turned the corner, Jay stopped, his mouth wide open.

"That's... home?!" He exclaimed, glimpsing over at the huge modernised mansion.

"Yup. If you remember, we have a millionaire with us, a movie star, so he just simply bought this property and now this is where we live. Well, more like hide." Wu corrected himself.

"Wow. That's insane!" Jay smiled.

"Let me tell you some ground rules first." Wu began, "One, it is very important that we do not use our phones no matter what the situation is. It would be an easy way for Nadakhan to track us down. Two, do not go to other people's rooms. Privacy reasons. And three, do not leave the house. Make sure to keep all windows and doors locked, along with all curtains pulled across so nobody can see in."

Jay's eyes widened as he tried to remember everything that Wu had just said to him.

"Got it?" Wu asked.

"I think so," Jay replied, still scanning the house.

"Try to avoid any drama. It might be a bit too late for that but just don't create any more. I don't know how much more I can take." Wu lead the way and knocked on the door five times. That was their secret knock so if anyone left the house, someone nearby would know who it was and would open the door for them.

"A secret knock?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"We have to remain safe," Wu told his student.

The door slowly opened, a face appearing between the crack.

"Wu?!" The familiar male voice exclaimed. Soon enough, the door flung open revealing Cliff Gordon, the millionaire, himself.

"And Jay?!" He frowned at Jay.

"Hey, dad." Jay smiled slightly at the sight of his birth father.

The two came inside, Jay's eyes darting around. Wu closed the door behind them and locked it securely whilst Cliff pulled his son into a tight hug.

"I can't believe you're here!" The movie star hugged tighter.

Jay groaned in pain, making Cliff gasp and let go almost immediately.

"Did I hurt you?" Cliff wondered, "I'm so sorry!"

"No, you didn't hurt me. Let's just say, Nadakhan didn't go easy on me. I'm just a little sore, that's all." Jay replied.

"How did you escape?" Cliff frowned, looking at Wu.

"It was pretty easy, actually." Wu wandered off.

Opening the door to the large kitchen, Wu stepped inside and spotted Zane and Kai playing chess at the kitchen table.

Zane looked over and spotted the elderly man, "Sensei?!"

In excitement, Kai exclaimed, "Master Wu?!"

"You're back!!" They both shouted.

"We have to keep the noise level down, though. Nadakhan will be on our tails very shortly. Also, I brought you a present. It's in the living room." Wu smirked.

"Is it edible?" Kai wondered.

"Is it a cat?" Zane asked.

"Better."

Within seconds, Kai and Zane had lept out of their chairs and ran into the living room, stopping at the door.

"Kai! Zane!" Jay exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

Kai and Zane exchanged looks.

"Am I seeing things?" Kai asked Zane.

"I see it too. And Nindroids don't see things." Zane whispered back.

Kai and Zane smiled and pulled their friend into a hug.

"I missed you so much," Zane said.

"You may not be edible but you are so much better!" Kai laughed.

Someone's footsteps were heard coming down the stairs but nobody heard them. It was Ben.

He stopped and frowned. _Why does that voice sound so familiar?_ He thought.

He peered his head around the corner and gasped.

_Jay's back?!_

Ben sprinted up the stairs and ran to Nya's room. He stopped, managed to catch his breath and knocked on the door.

A quiet 'come in' was heard from the female inside.

Ben opened the door and smiled, "Can we talk quickly?"

Nya nodded as Ben came in and sat beside her on the bed.

"I just wanted to say, I know you didn't do it," Ben told her.

"Do what?" She frowned.

"Say all those horrible things to Jay. I know it was Cole." Ben explained.

Nya frowned, "How do you know?"

"I heard you talking with Cole the other night," Ben replied.

"So why didn't you tell Kai?! There's plenty of us that know it wasn't me so surely Kai will believe it, right?" Nya wondered.

"But what you don't know is that I secretly recorded everything Cole had said that night. I have the proof." Ben explained, "I can blackmail him."

"Blackmailing someone is never the answer, Ben." Nya rolled her eyes.

"But wouldn't it be better if Cole confessed in front of everyone?" Ben asked.

"I'd rather tell my brother," Nya replied.

"Look, Nya I'm just trying to help." Ben looked his ex in the eyes.

"That's really sweet of you, Ben, but I'd rather show them the proof," Nya told him.

"Okay, we'll do that. You always know what's best, Nya." Ben smiled.

"Thanks?" Nya smiled back.

For the next few moments, it was silent. Ben slowly moved closer towards Nya, confusing her, but before she could say anything, Ben leaned in, connecting their lips.

About five seconds later, the pulled apart, looking each other in the eyes.

"Nya?"

Nya quickly turned around to face the door, her eyes widened. Ben couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Jay?!"

Before she could say anything, Jay had runoff.

Jay sprinted down the stairs and ran towards the door, trying to unlock it. Before he could do so successfully, Wu grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?!" Wu exclaimed.

"I'd rather be with Nadakhan." Jay cried, a tear streaming down his cheek.

At that moment, Cole walked in from the kitchen and almost choked on his slice of pizza.

"Jay?!" He frowned.

Kai and Zane stood up from the sofa, concerned about Jay.

Nya ran down the stairs, not long followed by Ben.

"Let me go back!!" Jay shouted.

"Why? Why do you want to go back?" Zane frowned.

Jay pointed at Nya and Ben, "Ask them."

Kai looked over at the two, confused, "What is he talking about?"

Nya fell silent, she didn't know what to say.

"Nya kissed me!" Ben blurted out.

"What?!" Wu, Cole, Kai, Zane and Cliff yelled, surprised.

"Why would you do that?!" Cole exclaimed.

"I-I-I-" Nya stuttered.

Kai shook his head in disappointment, "I suggest you go back to your room and stay there."

With that, Nya sprinted back upstairs, tears falling down her cheeks.

Jay fell to the floor, crying. Cliff wandered over to his son and comforted him. He tapped his back and whispered stuff like, 'it's okay' in his ear.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that Ben." Kai sighed.

"I pulled away as fast as I could. All I could think about was Jay and how much it would hurt him. I'm honestly so sorry, Jay." Ben explained.

"She'll get her punishment, don't you worry." Kai gritted his teeth in anger.

Ben wandered back up the stairs to his bedroom, smirking.


	29. Home

**Ben's POV**

"Yep. I did it." I smirked as I spoke on the phone.

"Good. Remember what you have to do next?" My boss responded.

"Yup."

He hung up without a word, I put my phone under my bed, where I always hide it. I had to find some way of keeping in contact with my boss. This was the only way.

I nearly got caught yesterday

Jay was sat downstairs, on the sofa, still shaken up over what he had witnessed.

"I can't believe what she has done to you," Zane spoke.

"I can't believe that I haven't had anything to eat in over three hours," Kai stated.

Cole rolled his eyes.

"You've been through so much. Not to mention all the horrible stuff she said to you before we left." Zane added.

Jay frowned and looked over at Cole.

"Yeah... I can't believe it either." Jay glared at Cole. Not only had he made Jay's life a nightmare, but Nya's too. Although, Jay was contemplating whether to speak up or not.

At that moment, Ed and Edna walked in.

"Hey mum, hey dad." Jay smiled at the two.

The elderly couple peered over at their son, Edna's face lit up.

"Oh hey, Jay." Ed continued like nothing happened, "Wait... Jay!"

They scurried over to the blue ninja and hugged him tightly.

"I'm happy you're back!" Edna smiled.

"And safe," Ed added.

At that moment, Wu walked in and was about to share some news that may make Jay either happy or very unhappy.

"So Jay, you will be sharing a room with Cole, Kai and Ben. Their room is the only room with a spare bed. Are you okay with that?" Wu asked.

Oh, come on! Do I have to share a room with _him_?! That's torture!!! I won't get any privacy! Although I guess it helps with my plan...

Jay looked at Cole and glared again, "Yep... I'm totally fine with that."

Yes! This is going perfectly! Nobody trusts each other anymore. No one is talking to Nya, Jay doesn't want anything to do with Cole and soon enough everyone will know the truth about me.

Jay wandered off upstairs, which gives me a chance to talk to him.

**Third POV**

Jay opened the door to his new shared bedroom and instantly got hit with the smell of perfume.

"Who's been using perfume?!" Jay said to himself.

As he walked in, he spotted the empty bed, headed over to it and sat down.

At that moment, Cole wondered in and closed the door behind him.

"Do you like it in here?" Cole asked in a friendly tone.

"It's alright, I suppose." Jay refused to make eye contact.

Cole crouched down in front of Jay's bed and sighed.

"Look, I know it's been a while since we've seen each other but could you at least act as you care about seeing us?" Cole pleaded.

"Why would I be happy about seeing you?" Jay replied.

Cole gritted his teeth. _Oh, you just blew your last and only chance, sweetie._

"Listen to me, pathetic blue ninja," Cole began in a harsh tone, "If you tell anyone that it was me who said all those things to you, you can say goodbye to everyone here. You don't belong here, Jay, Sensei should have never helped you escape. You would have been better locked up and tortured, where no one here could get hurt."

Suddenly, the door opened revealing Ben, "Looks like I'm not the only one."

Cole turned to his roommate and frowned.

"What are you talking about? We were just having a friendly brother to brother conversation." Cole lied.

Jay's eyes were filled with fear. He didn't want to believe what Cole was saying but he knew it was all true.

 _Maybe it would be better if I wasn't here..._ Jay thought.

Ben closed the door and folded his arms.

"I heard everything you were saying, Cole." Ben rolled his eyes.

Cole walked over to Ben, pointing a finger at his face, "If you tell anyone I'll—"

"Relax, I won't tell anyone." Ben cut him off, "You aren't the only one who feels that way, you know?"

"I'm not?" Cole frowned.

"No. I feel the same way." Ben told him.

"Oh. Wow. But why?" Cole asked.

"I want revenge," Ben answered.

"What did I do?" Jay spoke up.

"You took Nya away from me," Ben glared, "That is why you need to pay. She is the love of my life and if it wasn't for you, she'd still be with me."

Jay looked at Cole worryingly. Cole didn't care, however. He only thought about how someone finally agreed with him. It may have been a completely different story but he didn't mind.

"And you know how Nya kissed me?" Ben asked.

Both Jay and Cole nodded in unison.

"She wasn't the one who kissed me. I kissed her." Ben smirked.

"You lying little—" Jay tried to attack Ben but Cole grabbed him.

"It isn't worth it," Cole told his brother.

"If you even think about telling anyone, I'll make sure Nadakhan knows exactly where you are." Ben threatened Jay.

Cole frowned, "And how will you get out of here? Wu guards this place like it's a prison."

"I have my ways." Ben smiled, "But as for you, Cole, if you say anything to the others about this, I'll tell them all about how you have been treating Jay. And I'll share the truth about the little secret you and Nya are keeping. Lying about all that stuff you said isn't cool, you know."

"Are you blackmailing us?" Cole questioned.

"Scared?" Ben grinned.

"Of course not!" Cole exclaimed.

"Then do we have a deal?" Ben asked the two.

Cole and Jay looked at each other. They shared a worried look before nodding their heads. Ben left the room with a huge smile on his face. His plan was finally coming together.

"What are we going to do, Cole?!" Jay exclaimed.

"Listen to him, obviously." Cole rolled his eyes.

"And you've been blaming Nya for all the things you said to me? How could you?!" Jay shouted.

"It wasn't my fault! She started it!" Cole shouted back.

"I don't care who started it. I can't believe you lied!" Jay said.

"You can't say much!" Cole argued.

For the next few minutes, it was silent until Jay finally spoke up.

"I don't care whether Nadakhan finds out that we are here or not, I'm going to tell everyone the truth." Jay began to walk out of the room.

Cole grabbed him, "No you are not! You're risking all of our lives here. Yes, Ben may have betrayed us but think about it this way, if he tries anything else we have the proof."

Jay sighed, "You're right..."

"Thank you. Now let's head back downstairs and pretend like nothing ever happened." Cole ordered.

"Or we tell them behind Ben's back." Jay suggested, "He'll never know."

"That's a stupid idea, Jay! He's obviously going to keep a very close eye on us!" Cole exclaimed.

"But what other choice do we have?" Jay said.

There was a moment of silence.

 _Maybe Jay is right for once. Telling the others would make sense and would help us a lot... Perhaps we should. But I am NOT agreeing with him on any terms. Let's just say that this was my idea._ Cole thought to himself.

"Okay fine." Cole sighed, "Let's go."


	30. I know the truth (part 1)

Cole and Jay began to head downstairs but Jay stopped, which also stopped Cole in his tracks.

"What is it?" Cole frowned.

"Can I quickly speak to Nya?" Jay asked, "She needs to know too."

Cole rolled his eyes, "Fine but be quick."

Jay nodded and wandered off to Nya's room. He tried not to be so fast but sometimes he just couldn't help it. It still hurt from the game of Scrap 'n' Tap, not as much but it was a little painful.

The blue ninja knocked on Nya's door. There was a moment of silence before someone called, "Come in".

Slowly opening the door, Jay took a deep breath and peeked his head around.

"Can I just talk to you for a sec please?" Jay asked.

Nya nodded. She was a little surprised to see that it was Jay. She thought that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore because of what happened. Maybe she was wrong.

Jay came in and closed the door. He didn't move any closer to Nya; he felt awkward already.

"Jay, please give me a chance to explain." Nya shot up from her bed with a worried expression on her face.

"You don't need to explain anything." Jay sighed, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Nya frowned.

"For blaming you," Jay added.

"What are you talking about?" Nya wondered.

"I know that you didn't kiss Ben." Jay told her, "Ben kissed you."

Nya gasped. That was the thing she was least expecting him to say. Was she hearing things? Did he still love her?

"B-but how d-do you know?!" Nya exclaimed.

"Look, it's a long story. Cole and I are about to explain it to you all. Just come downstairs to the living room." Jay said.

"Oh, no, I'm not going downstairs," Nya argued.

"Why?" Jay frowned.

"I can't face them after what happened." Nya lost eye contact with him.

"And they'll know the truth in a minute," Jay advised her.

As they were about to leave, Nya grabbed Jay's hand to catch his attention. Jay turned around, his hand still in Nya's hand. He looked her in the eye and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I know how Cole has been treating you," Nya stated.

"Can we not talk about that right now?" Jay asked.

"Just stand up for yourself, okay? Don't let him get to your head." Nya told him.

Jay nodded and let go of Nya's hand. Opening the door, he spotted Cole down the corridor. They headed towards him and walked downstairs to the living room, where everyone except for Ben was. They didn't even have to call anyone to the room!

Libber instantly spotted Jay and ran towards him.

Libber quickly pulled her son into a tight squeeze.

"I heard the rumours of you being back but I didn't know if it was true. I'm so happy that you are here and safe!" She smiled.

"I'm glad to see you too, mum."

Edna sighed. Ed placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"He's found his real parents now, Edna, we need to let him go," Ed whispered to her.

"I know but it's going to be hard. I'll miss him so much." Edna sighed.

"We will miss him dearly but he doesn't need us anymore." Ed sighed too.

"Where's Ben?" Jay asked.

"We sent him out for groceries. He'll be back within thirty minutes to an hour." Wu replied.

Cole and Jay exchanged looks. It could be risky but they had made a deal. Ben was never the sort of person to break a deal.

"What is she doing here?!" Kai glared at his sister.

"Kai, calm down, we have to explain something to you all," Cole told them.

"Shouldn't we wait for Ben?" Lloyd asked.

Cole and Jay looked at each other again and said in unison, "No."

"What is it about?" Zane wondered.

"Ben." Jay and Cole stated.

Everyone exchanged looks. What could be so wrong with Ben that he would need to be the topic of a serious conversation?

"About half an hour ago, Ben came into our bedroom whilst Jay and I were in there." Cole started.

"What were you doing?" Kai asked.

"Just chatting, right Jay?" Cole replied.

Jay nodded. After Jay's reaction, Nya knew exactly what had happened in there. And she knew for a fact that Cole had lied again.

"Ben came in and started telling us a lot of shocking stuff." Jay continued.

"Like what?" Kai frowned.

"Nya didn't kiss Ben. Ben kissed Nya." Jay blurted out.

"What?!" Kai, Lloyd and Zane exclaimed together.

"You must be lying." Ed joined in.

"Why would he do such a thing?!" Libber shouted.

Nya shook her head.

"Why though?" Kai asked.

"For revenge on me." Jay replied, "He wanted to get me back for taking Nya away from him."

"That is horrible!" Edna exclaimed.

"I can't believe it." Lloyd sighed.

"Neither can I." Kai glared, "This was all a setup. They wanted to make sure that Ben was out of the house before they started spreading lies about him."

"What? No! This isn't fake!" Cole argued.

"We promise!" Jay added.

"Then prove it." Kai crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, we will," Cole replied.

"What?!" Jay whisper-shouted.

"But we don't have any proof," Nya whispered to Cole.

"Yes, we do," Cole replied to them both.

Cole reaches in his pocket and took out a voice recorder.

"You voice recorded it?" Jay smiled.

Cole nodded.

"Listen to this," Cole told everyone.

**"I want revenge," Ben answered.**

**"What did I do?" Jay spoke up.**

**"You took Nya away from me." Ben snarled, "And you know how Nya kissed me? She didn't. I kissed her."**

**"You lying little—" Jay tried to attack Ben.**

**"It isn't worth it," Cole told his brother.**

**"If you even think about telling anyone, I'll make sure Nadakhan knows exactly where you are." Ben threatened Jay.**

**"And how will you get out of here? Wu guards this place like it's a prison." Cole frowned.**

**"I have my ways." Ben smiled.**

**"Are you blackmailing us?" Cole questioned.**

**"Scared?" Ben grinned.**

**"Of course not!" Cole exclaimed.**

"Is that enough proof for you?" Cole raised an eyebrow at Kai.

Cole had cut out all the parts where Ben had mentioned what Cole had been doing to Jay. He didn't want anyone knowing, of course.

"Okay, I believe it now." Kai nodded his head.

"But what do we do with him?" Lloyd asked.

"Nothing." Jay replied instantly, "If he finds out that we told you guys, he will tell Nadakhan where we are. We can't risk it."

"So we're just supposed to keep our mouths shut?" Cliff frowned.

"Try and be cautious around him," Nya told everyone.

Everyone fell quiet. It was quite a shock to them.

"I can't believe he just came in and started saying all that stuff though. I only came in to stop Nya from talking to Jay." Cole said, catching everyone's attention.

Jay and Nya exchanged looks.

"What do you mean?" Kai frowned.

"I caught Nya saying mean things to him again and I—" Cole began but was interrupted.

"What? No, she wasn't even in the room. We hadn't spoken for hours." Jay spoke up.

"Jay, you don't need to lie to stop Nya from getting into trouble." Cole made a face at Jay as if to say, 'Not right now, Jay'.

"No, Cole, I am sick of your lying. First, you pick on me for no reason and now you're starting on Nya? What has she ever done to you?!" Jay exclaimed.

"Jay." Cole gritted his teeth.

Jay turned to face his family and friends, "Nya wasn't the one who said all the mean things before I was taken by Nadakhan. It was Cole."

Everyone gasped. They didn't just hear what they thought they heard, did they?

Nya smiled, _he's taking my advice._

"He lied about it being Nya. He also lied about us just 'chatting' before Ben came in. He was saying stuff to me about how he wished Wu didn't come and find me and how I am pathetic and how it would be better if I was gone." Jay explained.

Cole began to panic. This was too soon...

"Is this all true, Nya?" Kai asked his sister. Nya nodded.

"She was forced to lie," Jay added.

"Can't you see that I am more important than you?!" Cole blurted out.

"Cole, just stop! The way you have been treating people lately has been horrific! I didn't even do anything to you and you made my life a living hell!" Jay shouted in his brother's face, "Some brother you are."

Cole began to get angry, "You will all regret this. Just you wait."

Cole ran upstairs to his bedroom and slammed the door, leaving everyone downstairs in silence.

"He's been lying right under our noses." Wu pointed out.

"But Jay wasn't the only one who knew," Libber spoke up.

"Really?" Zane frowned.

"There is a group of us that backed up Nya at all times. We witnessed everything that happened with Cole and Jay that day." Edna joined in.

"So why didn't you say anything?" Lloyd wondered.

"Because Nya asked us not to," Libber replied.

"We're sorry we blamed you, sis. Do you forgive us?" Kai apologised to Nya.

"Of course I do." She smiled.

Within a few seconds, everyone was a part of a giant group hug. Everything was finally beginning to get back on track.

Suddenly there were five loud knocks at the door. They all instantly knew who it was.

"Ben!!" They all whisper-shouted.

"Everyone act like nothing happened!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Basically act like we all hate each other again." Jay told them all, "Just act neutral."

Lloyd and Kai looked at each other as if to say, 'As that will happen'.

Wu unlocked and opened the door. As soon as Ben stepped in Jay shouted sarcastically, "Gosh! Nya, I hate you! Get outta here!"

Ben frowned and went into the kitchen with all his groceries. He began to unpack them.

Kai facepalmed, Zane, raised an eyebrow, Lloyd stood there in shock, Ed and Edna exchanged looks, Cliff shook his head, Nya sighed, Wu closed his eyes and Libber just laughed.

"What?" Jay asked.

"Nothing." Nya walked off upstairs smiling.

"Hey, Nya?" Jay chased after her. Nya stopped halfway up and turned to face the lightning ninja.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," Jay told her.

"I'm sorry too." Nya smiled at him.

"Would you give me another chance?" Jay wondered.

"Of course," Nya replied with a huge smile on her face.

They had finally gotten back together, which made both their day so much better.

Ben shuffled in and frowned, confused.

"No, you cannot talk with Jay, Nya. Go back to your room, where you belong!" Kai shouted at his sister.

Nya stomped her foot and stormed off upstairs.

"What's going on? What did I miss?" Ben wondered.

"Oh, nothing. Just Jay, Cole and Nya telling us about how you want revenge and how you were the one who kissed Nya and—" Zane explained.

Nya ran back downstairs and screamed, "ZANE!"

"Why?!" Jay shouted in the nindroid's ear.

"I am programmed to never lie," Zane replied.

Cliff shook his head again.

"You told them?" Ben glared at Jay whilst gritting his teeth.

"They needed to know how much of a monster you are." Nya joined in.

"I don't choose what I do. My boss does." Ben snarled.

"Your boss? Who's your boss?" Ed asked.

"I'm not going to tell you." Ben stormed back off the the kitchen.

Unpacking the groceries, Ben places the large bag of sugar in the cupboard with the mugs.

"Ben?"

The familiar male voice startled the boy. Ben swung around, facing the stairs that came into the kitchen from upstairs.

"Cole? What do you want?" Ben rolled his eyes.

"Can I ask you for a favour?" Cole bit his lip.

Ben glared at him, "Depends what it is."

"You know how you want revenge?" Cole asked.

Ben nodded.

"I want to help."


	31. I know the truth (part 2)

"No chance." Ben returned to what he was doing, pretending that the earth ninja wasn't there.

"Oh come on." Cole groaned.

The black ninja moved off the stairs and towards where Ben was. Ben rolled his eyes.

"We both hate Jay and we both want revenge. Why not work together?" Cole suggested.

Ben slammed his hand on the table, "No."

"Why not?" Cole frowned.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly," Cole began, "With the way, I've been treating him lately, do you really think that I'd go behind your back? You even walked in on me talking with him."

Ben sighed, "Fine but I'm trusting you to not turn your back on me, okay?"

Cole nodded. A smirk began to form on his face.

Ben then sprinted upstairs. Cole frowned and headed up after him to see what he was up to. The two entered their bedroom that they shared with Kai and Jay. Ben grabbed a black bag and started to pack his things. He threw another bag at Cole's head.

"What's this for?" Cole asked.

Ben turned to face him, "We're leaving."

"Why?" Cole wondered.

"Well don't you want to get out of here? And now that there is two of us, it should be easier to get Nadakhan to come here. We might actually stand a chance of winning." Ben explained.

"We're going to get Nadakhan and bring him here?!" Cole exclaimed.

"Are you regretting your decision now?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! It just took me by surprise." Cole replied.

"Okay. Hurry up and pack. Then we will head out hopefully without being caught." Ben continued to pack.

Cole froze for a second. If he was to go with Ben to find Nadakhan, he would be betraying his team and his friends. But he had gained Ben's trust and that's all he ever wanted. He wanted to be equal...

"I have a better idea. What if you go get Nadakhan and I stay here?" Cole smiled hopefully at his friend.

"Let me think about it... Not a chance." Ben folded his arms.

"Oh come on, think about it. I could distract everyone so you can get out. I'll make sure they don't suspect a thing." Cole suggested.

"Hm," Ben frowned, "It's not a bad idea. Okay, you stay here and keep them distracted. Go downstairs now and make sure they know I'm up here and doesn't want to be disturbed."

"Sure thing." Cole walked out the door and down the hallway. As soon as he was out of sight, he sprinted the rest of the way to the living room. He tripped down the stairs, landing at Wu's feet.

"Sensei!" Cole shouted as he jumped up, out of breath.

"You should be in your room, Cole," Wu told him as everyone else watched.

"I can't even look at you." Kai looked away.

Cole sighed.

"Look, I have news and I think you might want to hear it NOW!" Cole exclaimed.

Libber frowned and looked at Cliff. She suspected that something was really up but she didn't know whether she could trust him or not. Especially with the number of lies he'd been telling lately.

"What is it?" Libber spoke up, concerned.

"You think we can trust him?!" Lloyd asked.

"It could be serious." She stated.

"It is," Cole added.

"Then tell us." Cliff joined in.

Cole caught his breath so he could explain properly, "I know I betrayed you, I didn't mean to. Honestly, I knew what Ben was up to since the start. I would never go behind your backs."

"Well, you did." Kai rolled his eyes.

"We aren't going to trust anything you say, Cole," Ed said.

"I know but you have to hear me out," He continued, "I needed to get close to Ben. He's working for someone. I don't know who yet but I will find out. All I know is that he could possibly be dangerous. I had to gain Ben's trust so I could find out. And by gaining his trust, I had to go behind your backs. I'm extremely sorry. Everything I've done, everything I've said, it was all an act. I honestly didn't mean it. I know I caused you all pain and misery. There were many times where I just wanted to come clean but I couldn't. I had to make sure Ben didn't find out that I was only doing it to bring him down. But I have more dangerous news now. He's going to get Nadakhan and bring him here. We need to stop him before he gets out. The thing is, he thinks I'm helping him and he needs to know that I'm still on his side otherwise we will never find out who he's working for. I understand if you don't forgive me, I wouldn't forgive me either but you needed to know before something terrible happens."

Everyone exchanged looks. No one was sure if Cole meant it or not but it sure seemed like he did. None of them ever imagined Cole to betray them so maybe he wasn't lying. But if what Cole was saying about Ben was true, they were sure in for some serious trouble. Ben had to be stopped.

"He's going to get Nadakhan?!" The ninja exclaimed with a worried tone of voice.

"YES!" Cole shouted, "Look, I need to keep his trust so I'll act like I'm trying to find you guys. You have to stop him from escaping."

About half an hour later, the living room was empty. No one was there. It was the perfect chance for Ben to escape. He tiptoed across the room and began to unlock the locks as quiet as he could. As he unlocked the last one he smirked.

"Going somewhere?" A male voice spoke from the kitchen door.

Ben jumped and turned to see the fire ninja.

"Kai! Kai, buddy! How ya doing?" Ben asked awkwardly.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Kai stood there with his arms folded.

"I... uh... forgot to buy mayonnaise." Ben lied as he smiled to hide the fact that he was escaping.

"We didn't put mayonnaise on the list. Cliff is allergic to it, remember?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, silly me. I meant I forgot... eggs." He lied again.

"We already have eggs." Kai took a step towards Ben.

"Oh, right." Ben frowned as he tried to remember when he bought eggs.

Kai stepping closer really made Ben feel uncomfortable. He began to sweat and began to step back until his back hit the door. Ben reached for the handle so he could run but someone grabbed his wrist before he could do anything else.

"Lloyd!" Ben exclaimed, "You too? Wow, we should play a board game. We could invite everyone."

"We know what you're up to." Nya appeared from the top of the stairs.

"Hey, you weren't there a second ago." Ben frowned, "And I have no idea what you are talking about."

"We know exactly what we are talking about." Jay stepped out from the dark corner of the room, where no one would normally go.

"I'm so confused." Ben continued to lie through his teeth. Lloyd still had a hold of his wrist, his grip getting tighter every lie he had made.

"Technically, you cannot be confused if you know what you are doing." Zane entered the room from the toilets.

"Stick to the script, Zane!" Kai whisper-shouted at the nindroid.

"Seriously, you guys are confusing me. What is going on?" Ben wondered.

"We know that you were trying to escape to tell Nadakhan where we are," Nya stated.

Lloyd tightened his grip once again.

"Do you mind?" Ben asked Lloyd harshly.

"And how do you know that unless... Jay told you." Ben glared at Jay.

"Nope. Jay didn't tell us." Lloyd replied.

"We overheard your conversation with Cole earlier," Kai told him.

"Speaking of Cole, where is he?" Ben peered around the room.

"He's with Wu upstairs," Jay said out of the blue.

"And you aren't going anywhere," Zane added.

"You can't stop me," Ben smirked.

"We sure can," Lloyd smirked.

"Again, STICK TO THE SCRIPT PEOPLE!" Kai yelled. The room fell silent as everyone exchanged looks.

Ben took this as an advantage and elbowed Lloyd in the chest, making him fall to the ground in pain. Ben grabbed a hold of the door handle and yanked open the door. He ran out and sprinted down the door, out of sight, so no one could see which way he went.

"Well done, Lloyd, you let him escape." Kai rolled his eyes.

"Me? We would have still had him if you hadn't distracted us." Lloyd argued.

"I ship," Jay whispered to Nya, making her giggle.

"What was that?" Kai raised an eyebrow at Jay.

"Nothing!" Jay lied.

Cole, Wu, Edna, Ed, Libber and Cliff entered the room and looked around. Edna spotted the open door.

"Why is the door open?" Edna frowned.

"Um..." Lloyd looked at Kai. Kai looked at Nya, Nya looked at Jay, Jay looked at Zane.

"You let him escape, didn't you?" Cole crossed his arms.

"What?" Jay said sarcastically.

"No," Nya spoke awkwardly.

"Why would we do that?" Kai questioned.

"That never happened." Lloyd rubbed the side of his neck.

"We let him escape," Zane spoke up.

"Zane!" Kai, Jay, Nya and Lloyd shouted.

"Guys! How could you?!" Cole groaned.

"He did it." Jay pointed at Kai.

"Jee, thanks, guys." Kai rolled his eyes.

"We better get out of here fast. And go somewhere no one would ever think we would go." Wu suggested.

"I have a perfect place." Zane smiled.


	32. Chen's Island

"What are we doing here?!" Jay exclaimed.

"Yeah, why here?" Kai frowned.

"What even is this place?" Cliff wondered.

"Let's just say we know our way around here very well." Zane looked at his team.

Nya nodded.

"Too well," Cole added.

They had to get to this secret place quite quickly because they had no idea whether Nadakhan or Ben were following them. Hopefully, they weren't spotted but they don't know for sure.

The buildings were not in the same condition as they were when the ninja had come here. Some others knew the place better. For example, the ninja had to run down the corridors and past all the trees. It wasn't the best experience they ever had...

"You still didn't answer my question," Cliff spoke up.

Zane smiled, "Welcome to Chen's Island."

"Who's island?" Ed questioned.

Jay shook his head, "Dad, I told you about this place, remember? It's where we found Zane!"

"I don't remember you ever talking about it," Ed replied.

"The tournament of elements?" Jay wondered.

"Ah, yes."

Everyone laughed.

"We should be safe out here. This should be the last place they think of looking. This island isn't even on any maps." Zane told them.

"Where should we hide?" Libber asked.

"Anywhere. The place is full of hiding spaces." Kai replied.

"Yeah, we could have a massive game of hide and seek!" Jay suggested.

"Now isn't the time to play games. We just have to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious." Nya interrupted.

"Agreed." Lloyd said, "Let's head towards the arena first."

Everyone headed inside the dark, cold building. It definitely wasn't in the same condition as they had left it. It was obvious that no one had been on the island since Garmadon had sacrificed himself to defeat Chen, Clouse and the Anacondrai. Speaking of Clouse, he hadn't been seen in a while. He escaped the cursed realm before it was destroyed but was never seen of again after he was spotted in stiix. Perhaps the villagers got water on him or something. Chen, however, was long gone, that is what they hoped anyway. But they were the least of the ninja's worries at the moment.

"Next time we see Clouse or Chen, remind me to thank them for letting us use their island to keep safe from Nadakhan." Jay joked.

Kai rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, funny."

"I don't think we'll be seeing them anytime soon." Lloyd pointed out.

"Very true." Wu agreed.

As the ninja approached the arena, Edna stopped. Ed walked back to get her but she didn't budge.

"What is it?" Ed asked his wife.

"I don't know, there's just something off about this place..." She frowned as she took a look at her surroundings.

"No one has been here for years, Edna, of course, it will feel strange," Ed told her.

"It just doesn't seem right here... But I'm sure you're right. I'm just thinking about things." She replied as the old couple caught up with the others.

Kai threw open the doors to the arena. It was bright from the sun coming through the top. It was cleaner than the rest of the building. The same pattern was on the floor, the seats were in tip-top condition and Chen's chair was still very much there.

"Wow." Libber smiled as she looked around.

"I have so many memories of this place." Lloyd sighed.

"This looks awesome!" Cliff exclaimed.

Cole looked over at Jay, who also looked astonished.

"Hey, Jay! Wanna reenact our fight?" Cole joked.

"Sure." Jay laughed.

Cole headed over to Jay. Everyone else watched from the other side of the arena.

The two brothers stood back to back, the hoods on their gi's up.

"I've got your back," Cole said.

"And I've got yours," Jay replied with a smile.

Everyone began to clap except for Nya. She wandered over to them, a huge grin on his face.

"So that is how you two figure stuff out?" She crossed her arms.

Jay burst into laughter.

"And to think I tried to fix it many times but you managed to sort it just by talking it out." She rolled her eyes.

"It was harder than you think," Cole told her.

"Where should we head next?" Libber wondered.

"How about--" Lloyd began but we interrupted by a sudden loud beep.

The room suddenly began to get darker and darker. Looking up, Jay gasped.

"The roof is closing!" He exclaimed.

"Okay, who touched something?!" Kai asked, panicking.

"What is there to touch?!" Edna questioned.

"Chen loved his trap doors and hidden buttons," Zane told her.

As soon as the roof had closed fully, the roof filled with Jay and Libber's screams.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Libber screamed.

"I SECOND THAT!" Jay yelled back.

"SHUT UP, YOU TWO!" Kai shouted.

The roof fell awfully quiet. It was pitch black, nobody could see, not even Zane.

All of a sudden, the lights on the walls of the arena flickered on, startling everyone.

"What was that?!" Cliff wondered.

"Maybe it's automatic?" Ed suggested.

"It never used to do that..." Lloyd narrowed his eyes and looked around for what could have triggered it.

It was silence once again. Until...

"It's good to see you again, my friends." A familiar voice spoke with an evil tone.

"Okay, who said that?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, it isn't funny." Jay folded his arms.

"Wait, that wasn't you?" Nya frowned at Jay. He shook his head.

"Then who was it?!" Libber exclaimed.

"Everybody calm down, I'm sure whoever it is, they'll let us stay here for our safety," Lloyd reassured everyone.

The sound of footsteps but everyone on edge.

"Will I now?"

The person was behind them. One by one, they turned around to see what they were not expecting.

"But you're... you're in the city!" Kai shouted.

"Nope. I knew you would come here. So here I am." They smirked.

Jay and Nya exchanged looks.

Out of nowhere, another person appeared right next to them. In fact, it was a ghost.

"CLOUSE?!" The ninja exclaimed.

"Good job, Ben." He smiled, "You did exactly what I asked you to do."

"Clouse is your boss?" Wu questioned.

"Indeed he is. I never wanted to help Nadakhan get you, I was helping Clouse. All he wanted was revenge so when he found me, of course, I helped him. My job was to get close enough to you to make you come here, where you cannot escape Clouse's clutches." Ben explained with a smirk.

"How could you do this to us?" Jay frowned, "We trusted you."

"That was you're mistake, not mine." Ben told him, "Now Cole, come join your real team."

Everyone looked at Cole, who felt very uncomfortable. Cole looked Jay in the eye and walked forward to stand beside Ben. He looked a little guilty.

"Cole?" Jay frowned.

"I thought you were on our side." Kai shook his head in disappointment.

"He's been working with me. That's why he's been acting weird around you guys. He's with us, not you." Ben explained.

Ed and Edna looked shocked. Cole had told them earlier that he was only pretending so that he could find out who Ben's boss is.

"You told us that you were just trying to get close to Ben." Zane reminded him.

"I know but I was just trying to get close to you so that I could bring you here. Didn't you wonder why it took me so long to figure out who Ben's boss was?" Cole smirked too.

"You lied to us!" Nya exclaimed. Cole nodded.

Jay felt hurt. He didn't know how to react. He knew he shouldn't have trusted his word but he did anyway and he felt stupid for doing so. He told everyone to trust Cole even after all he did to the team, especially Jay. This was mostly Jay's fault...


	33. Brothers till the end

"Then you should learn not to have trusted me, shouldn't you?" Cole replied.

"How could you do this to us?!" Kai lunged forward to attack Cole but Lloyd grabbed him.

"Fighting will only make things worse," Lloyd whispered to Kai.

If anything bad were to happen, the ninja wouldn't have anyone to turn to. They could ask Dareth for help but they didn't have any contact with anyone back in Ninjago. Chen's Island wasn't really known to anyone except for the other elemental masters that took part in the tournament. Plus, if they had told someone that Clouse had escaped the cursed realm and was now a ghost, no one would believe them. So whether something was to happen or not, either way, they were doomed.

If they managed to escape and return to Ninjago, they'd have to face Nadakhan, who planned on doing something so much worse than kidnap. So Clouse was a safer bet at the moment. Ben? Not so much... He had plans... Big plans...

Jay felt the anger boil up inside of him. Nya could feel him tense up. She grabbed hold of his hand and held it tight. She wasn't nervous about what would happen to them but to what could happen to Jay if he didn't calm down.

The lightning ninja looked at his girlfriend in the eye and then looked back at Cole with a glare.

"Jay..." She said his name softly.

"You made me think that you were on our side. I made these guys trust you. And it was all for this?!" Jay shouted, "Have you been planning this ever since we became a team?"

Cole fell silent. Ben nudged him a little to make him say something.

"No."

"Did you even want to be part of this team? Because to me, it doesn't look like it. I can't believe that you would betray us like that!" Jay continued.

"Jay--" Nya tried to calm him down.

"No, Nya, he deserves this. Can't you see how he's treating us?! He thinks he can just turn his back on us without an explanation!" Jay yelled, "All of the memories... Everything we've been through as a team... Are you willing to throw that all away?"

Cole broke eye contact. Instead, he stared at the floor.

_All of this has ruined my friendships... This better work._

"I wish you weren't my brother," Jay stated, angrily.

Cole looked up, slightly shocked.

"He doesn't care, do you, Cole?" Ben asked.

Cole shook his head.

"What are we going to do?" Edna whispered to her husband.

"I'm sure the ninja have a plan," Ed reassured her.

Cole looked up at Ben, "They'll never know what hit 'em."

"Yep." Clouse nodded.

"Just like how you weren't expecting this," Cole smirked.

"Weren't expecting what?" Ben frowned.

Cole quickly elbowed Ben in the stomach, making him clench in pain. He then kicked him in the leg, sending him to the floor. Clouse gasped and disappeared before Cole could get to him.

The Earth Ninja stood over the now scared Ben.

"Nobody hurts my friends." Cole glared.

"Too... late..." Ben stuttered in pain as he smirked.

Cole frowned and looked over at his teammates. His eyes widened.

They all spun around to see Clouse, the conniving ghost himself, holding a rather large gun.

"He has a gun! I repeat, HE HAS A GUN!" Jay screamed.

Edna held onto Ed.

"Don't worry, dear, he won't hurt us," Ed told her.

Clouse pointed the gun at the elderly couple.

"I HOPE!" He shouted.

Clouse began to aim the gun at everyone, a very stern look on his face.

"Whatever happens, stay calm. You don't want to make the situation worse." Wu told everyone.

"You played us, Cole, but it's too late. Your friends don't trust you anymore." Clouse said.

"I don't mind if they no longer trust me. I'm a ninja and I will do whatever it takes to protect my home." Cole spoke up.

"You were on our side all along?" Zane questioned.

"I told you I was only trying to get close to them." Cole rolled his eyes.

"He told us the truth..." Kai sighed.

"But we didn't believe him..." Nya added.

"I forgive you, now SHUT UP!" Cole yelled.

"So, who should I shoot first?" Clouse wondered.

"How about nobody?" Libber smiled innocently.

Clouse rolled his eyes. He continued to point the gun at everyone until he came across Jay once again.

"You." He smirked.

An orange dust cloud appeared next to Clouse, revealing Nadakhan, the evil djinn who sought revenge on Jay.

Ben said, "pew pew"

"Ooh, this looks exciting. Please continue." Nadakhan grinned.

Jay's heart skipped a beat. He didn't know what to do. Does he run or does he stay? He was in the middle of panicking so coming up with a plan was extremely difficult. Jay began to shake from being so scared. He put his hands up to surrender and knelt down, his eyes shut tight.

"Jay?!" Everyone shouted.

"I was bound to go first, we all know it!" He shouted back.

"As you wish," Clouse smirked.

As he pulled the trigger, it felt like everything had slowed down as if the world was in slow-motion. Could this be the end?

Three seconds after the gunshot sounded, a scream was heard... It was more of a screech. The sort of screech that would make your ears ring. Except it didn't. It turned quiet for a few seconds until there were shouts of...

"COLE!"

Jay slowly opened an eye at a time, spotting his very own best friend and brother lead in front of him. He gasped.

Ben managed to get up from behind them.

Nya growled in anger as she formed a large blue water bubble in the palm of her hands. Forgetting that water eliminates a ghost completely, she blasted Clouse. Within seconds, the gun fell to the ground with a loud crash. The evil ghost was no longer there.

"RUN!" Ben shouted to Nadakhan as they both headed out of the door.

"GET THEM! GO!" Jay shouted at his family and teammates. Everyone, except for Jay, ran after the two.

Jay, however, stayed behind with Cole.

"Cole?" Jay's voice was shaking.

"J-Jay... h-help... I-I-'m i-in so m-much p-p-pain..." Cole stuttered.

"Y-you took a bullet for me?" Tears began to form in Jay's eyes, "But why?"

"B-because you d-don't deserve t-that... Y-you deserve b-better... I b-betrayed y-you just f-for a mission a-a-and I'm so so s-sorry... I-I couldn't b-bare to s-see you get h-h-hurt... p-please f-forgive m-me..."

Cole's eyes closed slowly...

"Cole? Cole?! Please talk to me! No, no, no! You can't... You can't be... No! COLE?! Please tell me that this is a joke!! YOU CAN'T DIE ON ME NOW, COLE!!!" Jay cried, clutching onto his brother's gi.

Tears flooded from Jay's electric blue eyes.

Cole's chest laid still, no flicker of life, a surefire sign that he was dead. The impact of his limp, lifeless body was synced with the wails of his younger brother, who was still holding tight onto his blood-stained ninja gi. Jay was desperate to find any signs of life still in his best friend's body but was instead met with the cold silence of his frozen heart. Jay's brother was gone, stolen from him.

Jay suddenly remembered what his father had told him the first time they had met.

_'There are only two things that can stop a djinn. Tiger Widow Venom and... a master of lightning.'_

The anger began to boil up in his veins again. He knew exactly what he had to do... something he should have done a while ago...

"It's time to get rid of Nadakhan once and for all." Jay snarled.

Outside, Ben and Nadakhan ran. They ran as fast as they could. They had to get away from the ninja.

"They're right behind us!" Nadakhan exclaimed.

"Just keep running!" Ben told him.

As they reached the docks again, they were startled by what they did NOT want to see.

"Put your hands up! Drop any weapons that are in your possession!"

There, with his large microphone, stood the Police Commissioner and his crew. They had got to the island by boat.

The ninja arrived and was very surprised.

"How did they--" Kai frowned.

"Cole must have called them on the way here," Zane suggested.

"What?!" Ben yelled.

"They're your problem, not mine." Nadakhan laughed.

Suddenly, the door to the building reopened, catching everyone's attention.

"This was YOUR fault, Nadakhan."

Nadakhan gulped.

"H-hey Jay. My old buddy! How's it going?" Nadakhan asked worriedly.

"Stay back, lightning ninja!" Ben demanded.

"You will pay for what you have done to me, to my family and to my friends." Jay took no notice to Ben.

Jay's hands were by his side but little balls of lightning began to appear in his palms. They soon transformed into full lightning bolts that could kill or shock someone instantly. Jay glared at his enemy before striking him. Nadakhan began to shake violently, also making noises to show that he was being electrocuted. The teapot of Tyrahn magically appeared out of nowhere. It was in mid-air but right in the light of the sun. As the brightness struck it, the pirate symbol returned to its full self and an orange cloud of dust formed around Nadakhan.

"NO! Make him pay, Ben! MAKE HIM PAY!" Nadakhan shouted as he was transported back into the teapot. Jay sprinted over to the edge of the island and threw it in the ocean, where it would never be found.

The ninja watched the teapot sink further and further. Jay stepped back as everyone's focus was on the sinking object. But Ben was out of sight...

Shortly after, Ben stepped right next to Nya who was stunned by what had just happened.

The Police Commissioner stepped forward and grabbed Ben's hands, which were later put into hand-cuffs.

"Ben Miller, you are under arrest for attempted murder and possession of dangerous weapons without a licence."

"But that wasn't me!" Ben exclaimed.

"Oh and for blackmail." He added.

"That one was me..." Ben smiled.

"Either way, you're coming with me." He took Ben away and put him on the main boat.

The boats headed back to Ninjago City, leaving the ninja behind.

"It's all over!" Kai exclaimed happily.

"We did it!" Libber smiled.

"No, Jay did it!" Nya corrected, "Isn't that right, Jay?"

Everyone turned to the lightning ninja, who looked panicked. You could see the fear in his eyes. It looked like he had just seen a ghost yet he hadn't. It was far much more than that...

"Jay?" Lloyd frowned.

Jay was shaking once again. But this time, he fell to the ground.

"JAY!" Nya, and everyone else sprinted towards the fallen blue ninja.

Zane checked Jay for any wounds.

"He's been stabbed." Zane looked up at his friends, worriedly.

"What?! How?!" Cliff exclaimed.

"Ben." Kai snarled, "It was Ben."

_Weak, I feel so weak. I can feel blood running through my body, but my head is too heavy to take a look, my arm is too heavy to lift, everything is too heavy. I feel so weak..._

_I'm on the floor, dying in pain and to make matters worse something is poking me in the back. It seems I can't even die comfortably. It's probably the knife that BEN STABBED ME WITH!_

_Somebody, please help me... I don't want to die... I don't want to die... There's still so much that I want to do, so much I still need to learn._

_Somebody, please save me... I can't do this on my own. I need to live._

_I feel so lonely. Do they even care? Maybe they gave up on me. No, they'd never give up. Right?_

_It'll be over soon. There's no saving me anymore, I'm too broken, too damaged. I just wish I wasn't alone. Maybe... maybe someone will help me. There's still time. Yes, please help me! I don't want to die alone!_

_My entire body is numb, I can't feel any pain anymore, no discomfort, nothing at all. It's kind of nice. It's like my body is sleeping, but I'm not. Maybe I should be sleeping._

_Everything I have been through with my family and my friends... it'll all be wasted..._

_it'll all be wasted_

_I'm trying so hard to keep my heart still beating but I can't... It's failing... If this is the end then please tell Nya I love her..._

"Check his pulse, Zane!" Wu ordered.

That is exactly what Zane did. Instead of him breathing a sigh of relief, he did the opposite. A tear began to form in his eye as he looked up at his friends hopelessly.

"No." Kai shook his head in denial.

"He can't be--" Lloyd began.

"Oh, Jay!" Edna cried into her husband's chest.

Libber gasped, Cliff, comforted her.

Nya slightly shook Jay, "Please wake up. You aren't gone. You can't be. Please, Jay."

"H-he's not going to wake up, Nya..." Zane sighed.

"No, you're lying!" She exclaimed, tear flooding her cheeks.

Zane shook his head.

"NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! NO!" She sobbed.

"First Cole and now Jay?! WHY IS THE UNIVERSE NOT ON OUR SIDE?! ALL WE HAVE DONE IS PROTECT NINJAGO AND THIS IS WHAT YOU GIVE US IN RETURN?!" Lloyd screamed as he buried his head into his hands.

Kai pulled both Nya and Lloyd into his chest, letting them cry it out. He rubbed their backs to help comfort them.

"They're in a better place now," Kai told them quietly as a tear slowly trickled down his left cheek.

That evening, the ninja returned to their homes.

All was peaceful. The soft pink flowers fell gracefully from the blossom trees in the centre of Ninjago City. The cars travelled down the road, a beep here and there. The people were happy, cheerful and having fun at a nearby carnival. The sun shined brightly over the city, reflecting the mood of the now safe civilians.

Cole was sound asleep in his dark, empty grave. It was silent except for the quiet chirping of birds. His body was wrapped in his favourite black jacket and jeans, along with his signature white shirt. His hair was neatly done, his teeth brushed. His soft hands lay neatly on top of his stomach. Just because he was gone, didn't mean that his soul wasn't still there...

I'm jealous of the morning sun who gets to be the first to see you or the coffee cup who gets to kiss your lips. You brought me sunshine when I only saw rain. You brought me laughter when I only felt pain. I knew the day we met, we were meant to be. I knew our fate was set that you were the one for me. I promise to be your strength whenever you fall weak. I promise to be your voice when you can't find the words.

I love you for a lifetime, not only for a day. I love you for who you are, not for what you do or say. You always know what to say, just talking to you makes my day. The sound of your voice calling me by what I wish to ripple through the blood within me, making my heart melt.

Your touch, your embrace, your hands and cute little face makes me love you. Your eyes, your calming voice, your lips and the soft way that you kiss makes me love you. Your sensitive side and your loving heart make me love you. The hugs you give, the life you live, the faith you have makes me love you.

I love you in ways you have never been loved for reasons you have never been told and for longer than you deserved. The only thing you could blame me for was for giving you more love than you could handle.

You are worth more than you will ever know. Your love has never fallen short, you have been my only support.

Forever in my heart is where you will be. Without you, I'm nothing. With you, I'm something.

I love you, Nya.

It was like nothing ever happened.

Yet, it did...

(The End)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the other stories are up on my acc now if you wanna read them. Also just a heads up, I wrote this specific story in 2018 so that's why some of the writing is AWFUL but that's also why Cole's mother's name is different bc it wasn't actually confirmed at the time so yeah. Hope you enjoyed.


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